


Three is Company

by asingerofsongs, MayGlenn



Series: Stars and Skies [10]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Age Difference, Asexual Rey (Star Wars), Asexual/Sexual relationship, Bisexual Finn, Canonical Character Death, Cuddling & Snuggling, Date Night, Drinking, Eventual Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gardens & Gardening, Grieving, Hangover, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Music, Nightmares, Oral Sex, Pansexual Poe Dameron, Platonic Flirting With Superior Officers, Poe Dameron Can Sing, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shower Sex, Swimming, Tattoos, Training, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-08 02:13:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6834877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asingerofsongs/pseuds/asingerofsongs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayGlenn/pseuds/MayGlenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What happened to you two? Aside from the obvious," Rey said dryly, and Finn huffed a short laugh.</p><p>"Boloball happened. And then the party after boloball." Finn paused to yawn, having successfully pulled on both underwear and pants. </p><p>Poe laughed. "And then the sex after the party.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And if you're looking for "the sex after the party," go back and read [The Boloball Championship](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6503248).

BB-8 was twittering excitedly to Rey as they neared the camp where Poe and Finn had spent the night, something about boloball and the soldiers winning and Finn and Poe being very happy. Rey wasn't sure what half of it even meant, but she _was_ excited to see both of them after having no one but Master Luke, Chewie, and the two droids for company recently.

"Hey Finn? Poe?" she called, strolling into their campsite and noting the fairy lights and other little touches that someone—probably Poe, if she had to guess—had added. She went to the tent, planning on speaking loudly at the flap until they woke up and set themselves to rights, but as it turned out, they hadn't even bothered with the tent flap.

And that was far more of Poe Dameron and Finn than she wanted to see.

"For gods' sakes," she half-yelped, spinning on her heel and blushing furiously, "Have either of you _ever_ heard of a _tent flap_? BB-8, you're supposed to give me fair warning about these things!" she said to the droid.

[Told you they were happy and had spent the night together!] they wailed at her, and she frowned, then shrugged.

"Okay, fair enough…I should have probably figured that out.”

Poe started awake to find himself in the same position he last remembered being in, which was plastered on top of Finn, and for a moment thought he had only dozed off for a few minutes—but then he blinked, and realized it was light outside, so he had slept the whole night, absolutely dreamless.

What Poe next realized was that there was a voice he didn't quite expect to hear but was nevertheless welcome: "Rey?" he mumbled slowly, blinking up at her—back—? Why was she turned around—

 _Oh_.

“Look—would you two get cleaned up and dressed so I can say hello properly?" she said, and shuffled over to sit down, eyeing the grapes and other food from the previous night before shrugging and picking out some of the fruit.

"Rey!" he squawked, starting up on hands and knees, scrambling for a blanket for decency's sake, but about halfway through the motion realized he was in so much pain he was probably dying, and spasmed and fell over with a curse and lay there groaning.

"...Are you okay?" Rey asked, sounding annoyed at the prospect of having to turn around, but she _would_ if she had to.

"Probably?" Poe whined, and nudged his still sleeping companion. "Finn, wake up. Rey's here!"

"Whuh?" Finn asked, waking up with a start, limbs flailing, and then wishing he hadn't.  " _Ow_ ," he said taking a moment. "Wait, Rey?" Had Poe said Rey was here?

"That's the name they gave me," she answered, still sounding a little annoyed.

"Rey! You're here!" Finn rolled over and pushed himself up to his hands and knees, sitting back with a wince. Okay, there was definite next-day soreness associate with sex, apparently, but Finn wasn’t complaining. Poe was still lying on his side, and Finn reached over and patted his leg sympathetically. Apparently he didn’t have it quite as bad as Poe.

"Could you toss me the water? Please?" Finn asked, and Rey passed it over her shoulder. He reached for it and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze in thanks before dropping the water next to Poe and grumbling as he moved around and tried to get dressed.

"What happened to you two? Aside from the obvious," Rey said dryly, and Finn huffed a short laugh.

"Boloball happened. And then the party after boloball." Finn paused to yawn, having successfully pulled on both underwear and pants.

Poe laughed. "And then the sex after the party. Stop, stop, hang on, you're filthy," Poe said, stopping Finn from putting on his shirt until he had wiped him clean with the wet wipes he had brought for this purpose. "I think we were stuck together," he laughed, wiping at the mess of dried come that was sticking to both of their chests and bellies.

"Okay, _that's_ disgusting. T-M-I," Rey said.

"Sorry," Poe said, and then grinned at Finn. "Okay, not sorry. Drink this," he said, stopping Finn from getting up once he had dressed and handing him a bottle of water, which gave Poe time to groan into his clothes. "Juuuust a few more seconds," he told Rey, and grinning at Finn, motioned at him that they should tackle-hug her simultaneously in three—two—one—

"What are you two—" Rey started to ask, but cut off with a yelp as she was half-tackled by not one, but both men, who were cackling like the ten-year-olds they apparently were this morning.  She almost pushed them off and would have laid them out—old habits—but Finn was laughing, and already talking a mile a minute:

"When did you get back? What were you doing? Did you find anything exciting? Are Luke and Chewie and the droids at base, too?" The barrage of questions made her grin, and then laugh. She brought her arms up to put around each of their shoulders and gave first Finn, then Poe kisses on their foreheads.

"Yesterday, it's classified, no, and yes," she answered, ticking the questions off by tapping her fingers on Finn's shoulder. She grinned at him again and turned to look at Poe. "Your side healed alright, I take it? Enough for you to play boloball? What _is_ boloball?" she asked him.

Poe rolled off her into the grass, laughing, brushing his fingers through her hair. "Didn't you _just_ get an eyeful of, like, my entire body? It's fine. Got kicked in the shin though," he laughed, looking at the bruise still darkening on his ankle. "Boloball is…going to be the death of me—just kidding, it’s a game. Contact sport, lots of hitting each other," he shrugged. "Maybe we wouldn't have lost if we had you on the pilots team!"

"Pilots vs infantry?" Rey laughed. "Oh, no wonder you lost!"

"Hey, watch your mouth!" Poe said, shoving her over.

Rey narrowed her eyes at Poe's ankle. "That is not your shin, Poe Dameron, that is your _ankle_ and there is no reason it should be that color." Next to her, Finn cackled, and she looked over at him.

"Shin, ankle, _whatever_ ," Poe laughed, to cover up the fact that both his ankle and his shin hurt so it kind of blended together. "I'm still a bit fuzzy all right? And unless you want me to graphically recount _why_ I'm so tired..."

Rey covered her ears, laughing. "No! I've already seen too much!"

"I tried to tell him the same thing, but he said he's fine," he told her, taking her hand and holding it securely between both of his. "You okay? You look tired," he said, looking at her with one of those careful, perceptive looks that she never quite expected from someone who'd been a stormtrooper his entire life.

"Yeah. Just tired—Chewie snores, and Luke decided that we would absolutely be awake by 7AM ship time, regardless of anything else."  It had probably been a good experience in terms of learning how to function when sleep-deprived, but Rey had plenty of experience with that already. She'd rather have slept... "C-3PO is _not_ my favorite alarm clock," she added, smiling when BB-8 rolled over and booped quietly at her. "Yeah, Bee, you're much better. I don't want to throw things at you when you wake me up," she said to them.

Poe laughed at her story: "Threepio is a sweetheart, you be nice to him," he scolded.

[I thought you said he's annoying!] BB-8 trilled.

"Yeah, well. An annoying sweetheart, maybe," Poe said. "You know what? I'm going back to sleep. My brain is clearly not awake yet...."

"Would breakfast help? You look like you intended to make some..." Rey said, nodding to their little stash of food. "I'll help if you'll share. I've been eating ship rations, which are better than protein portions, but not as good as the food here."

"Oh—er—sorry, I didn't plan to _make_ breakfast," Poe said, sitting up. "But I thought you could try these packaged pastries that I'm going to guess have more sugar than either of you have ever had in all your lives. You’re supposed to toast them, but they’re fine cold." Poe grinned, rummaging through his bags. "Oh, and I can make caf," he offered, getting the electric burner going as he handed them each a package of pastry coated in frosting and stuffed with fake fruit. He secretly thought they were delicious, but they were hard to come by. "And maybe we could go down to the watering hole and—er—those of us who need to, anyway, could rinse off?" He winked at Rey's face of disgust. "Oh! There's a hot spring, actually, not too far. If we just want to relax and soak."

Rey was crinkling the packaging, struggling to open her 'breakfast.’ It smelled cloyingly sweet, and was soft, but biting into it was like biting into a cloud of sugar. "Oh no," she said.

"That bad?" Poe winced.

"Oh _no_ ," she moaned. "This is GOOD!"

Finn was busy trying to open his own breakfast, but looked up at the delighted tone in Rey's voice and then redoubled his efforts. "Why are they impossible to open? Do they want you to _starve_?" he asked, and then managed to rip the package open using his teeth. He looked at one of them, noting the brightly colored sugar crystals all over it, and then took a huge bite, eating about a quarter of it all at once. His eyes went wide, and then he laughed. "This is AMAZING there is so much SUGAR are you sure this qualifies as breakfast?" he asked before taking another bite, this time a little smaller so he could savor the pastry longer. Rey, meanwhile, was wasting no time finishing hers, and soon she was eyeing the second one that had been in the package.

"You said you can _toast_ them?" she asked, almost sounding like she believed it was too good to be true.

Poe thought he could die happy now. Oh, sure, there were more artery-clogging snack foods still to watch them try in the galaxy, and sure there was more sex to be had, but really, having experienced both in the span of less than eight hours, and sitting here now with his two precious messed up sweethearts who didn't even know about Toaster Tarts, well, his bucket list was basically fulfilled. It was the cutest thing he had ever seen, seeing them both so excited and cheeks sticky with fruit, and Poe had seen a lot of cute things in his life (Finn's ass, for one). The joy they experienced about everything new—which was a lot of things—would _never_ get old for Poe. He laughed, and split his last pastry between them so they could have more. "Yes, they are slightly better toasted, I think," he said, pouring caf for both of them: cream and sugar for Finn and just cream for Rey. "And no, they're not really a good breakfast. If you're not sick from the sugar you'll be hungry in an hour. But they taste amazing. Enough to get us to the hot springs, anyway. Unless you guys would prefer the pool. They're not far from each other."

Finn was in the middle of a mouthful when Poe proposed going to the hot springs instead of swimming.

Rey had finished hers already though, and brightened. "Hot springs? There were some of those on Jakku, I heard, but I never got to go. They always sounded best when it would get cold at night," she said wistfully, and sighed softly, clearly thousands of miles away for a moment.

"Hot springs, I vote hot springs," Finn said when he'd hurriedly swallowed his last bite of pastry, and Rey jumped.

"Sorry! I'm more tired than I thought!" she said, and then shook her head as if to wake up. "But not too tired to go to hot springs."

"Okay. BB-8 can give you directions if you two want to get started. I'll strike camp," Poe offered, but Rey raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, we'll help, and then we'll all go."

"Well," Poe said, looking at his feet. " _You_ could help. Finn and I had—a bet, so _he_ doesn't have to help," he said bashfully.

Finn rolled his eyes, standing with only a small wince and offering his hands to both Rey and Poe to pull them to their feet. "Yeah, remind me what the bet was? Basically I get to do what I want within reason?" he asked innocently.

"I, ah—wait, what?" Poe said, blushing and probably inappropriately turned on by that comment, though he wasn't sure Finn meant it like that. "The—no, I thought we just said I was in charge of setting up the date. And that means packing up the tent. But, hey, if you want to help I won't stop you," he said, groaning as he stood up. His ankle hurt, but he could walk on it without limping if he went slow, and packed up the fairy lights, food, personal items, electronics, bedding, and tent, with Finn and Rey both helping.

When the campsite had been set to rights and all of what Poe had brought was loaded onto the speeders, Finn walked casually over to where Poe and Rey were both standing and offered each an arm.

Poe was grateful for Finn's arm, and he could see Rey was, too, and BB-8 whistled happily at them being all together, where they belonged, according to BB-8. "Okay, Rey, you drive one speeder and I drive the other?" Poe said. "It’s walkable, but this way we can take them straight back and not miss lunch."

Rey nodded. "Oh, good point." Lunch was important.

"Finn, you ride with Rey," Poe said, since there was less packed on the second speeder. "BB-8, you hitching a ride with me?" The astromech hooted affirmatively and used their magnets to pull themselves on the back. "Okay, hold on! Follow me!" he called, taking them faster than was strictly necessary to the (quite close, at these speeds) hot spring.

"So if _you're_ tired, what does Skywalker have you doing? Running laps? Lifting stones? I hear there's lifting stones involved," Poe asked once they arrived and went back to walking arm-in-arm to the water's edge.

Rey gave Poe a look with one eyebrow raised. "Lifting stones?" she asked, and then shook her head. "I have not lifted any stones. I haven't lifted anything bigger than Artoo. He was less surprised about it than I thought he'd be..."  He'd just whistled, a resigned sort of sound, and Luke had grinned crookedly. "It's not so bad. A lot of it is concentration work. The physical exercise I can handle," she said, waving a hand.

"What's it like, the place where you train?" Finn asked as they sat next to the hot spring and started shedding shoes and socks and most of their clothes.

"Well, we went to—" she paused, and then decided she could tell them, "to a planet called Dagobah. It's an awful swamp but Master Skywalker says he trained there with Master Yoda—"

"Oh yeah, I saw those episodes," Poe laughed, stripping down to his underwear and sliding into the water with a grateful hiss. "Hey we need to show _Rey_ the _Luke Skywalker Adventures_!" he laughed (they had watched almost the first series by now). "You'll love them. SO cheesy. Anyway, Dagobah is in one of the episodes." He chuckled to himself, and then coughed. "Okay, so everyone be careful getting in, the rocks are slippery. And it's _really_ hot in places, like, burning hot. So don't go too far back. C'mere, Finn, take my hand," Poe said, offering Finn a hand since he looked a little worried—about as worried as he had looked at the PT pool.

Glancing up, Poe offered Rey a hand, too. She hesitated, but took it, as if trying to appear braver than she felt.

"Okay, wait, do _neither_ of you know how to swim?"

The look Rey gave Poe was about as dry as the driest desert on Jakku. It was the sort of look that said 'I'll wait for you to come to that conclusion on your own and if you don't hurry up I'm going to start laughing.'

“Okay, right, raised by sand, sorry,” Poe said.

Finn, going for something a little more obvious, shook his head.

"I still don't know, you've seen me ‘swim,’ I nearly died." It wasn't exactly true, since he'd never been in any danger of drowning even partially. Rey looked over at him, and he shrugged one shoulder. "They made me get in the water for physical therapy," he told her.

Poe rolled his eyes and laughed fondly. "Okay, guess it's my lucky day. C'mere, you, two," he said, tugging them both into the spring with him and into his arms, where they both clung to him instinctively even though the water only came up to Rey's chest. "Hey, hey, it's okay," Poe said, and really it was _more_ than okay, for who else had two gorgeous wet young things clinging to them in a hot spring right now besides Poe Lucky-Son-of-a-Gundark Dameron?

"It's hot!" Rey said.

"You're the one from Jakku, this is frigid in comparison," Poe countered.

"It smells," she said.

"Okay, yes. It smells worse than Jakku, I will give it that. But you didn't smell that tent after Finn and I—"

She jabbed her knuckles into his ribs for that one, and he deserved it, and laughed as he groaned. "Okay, we're just going to wade to those rocks and relax," he said eventually. "No swimming. It's too relaxing in here. Maybe swimming in a bit."

"I thought you were training in a swamp. Luke hasn't taught you to swim?" Finn asked Rey as they waded over to the rocks and sat down. She shrugged.

"The water isn't really very good for swimming—or anything else," she told him, "It smells kind of like this, but it's not clear and there might be things living in it..."  As they settled on the rocks, she couldn't help but sigh softly, smiling when Finn sat on her other side, leaving her in the middle.

"I think I just heard my legs creak," Finn commented as he stretched them out next to Rey's. He could already feel knots relaxing in the hot water. "How is this place not overrun with people?" he asked.

"Oh it will be, later. It's still early," Poe said, closing his eyes as he relaxed in the soothing warm water. He stretched his arm across Rey's shoulders to rest his hand on the back of Finn's neck, and closed his eyes. "After this, I'm giving you two swimming lessons. I get it, growing up on Jakku, that’s fine—but I'm more than usually appalled the F-O doesn't teach their troopers how to swim. I know the Clones were trained to. It's like they _wanted_ you to drown if it came to it—it’s willful and fucked up and—" Poe stopped, realizing he was squeezing the back of Finn's neck harder than was comfortable. "Sorry." It still happened that thinking about the First Order and what they did to Finn made him homicidal with rage. He didn't suppose that would ever go away.

"Well, some of them learned—the ones who went on missions more often. They were usually older than me," Finn answered, not trying to defend the First Order, but trying to soothe Poe.

"That armor would make it hard to swim anyway, right?" Rey asked, and Finn nodded. "What's it even look like, a bunch of stormtroopers trying to learn to swim?"

Finn laughed. "It looks about as ridiculous as you'd expect," he said, "There's a lot of flailing and yelling and people nearly drowning in the deep end."

Poe covered his face with his hand, groaning. "You're not helping, Finn," he growled. It _bothered_ Poe that the First Order couldn't even take care of their own fucking people. That was part of why they were fighting them, he supposed: what made them the bad guys. A fascist regime that couldn't be allowed to take over, or they'd treat innocent civilians the way they treated their own soldiers. But it was also dangerous, Poe thought, for him to pity stormtroopers rather than hate them. "Anyway, you're gonna learn now, with little to no flailing," he said. "Once my body stops screaming at me." He opened one eye. "My latrine duties aren't until Tuesday, right? That was the other part of losing I get to look forward to," he explained to Rey, who laughed.

"Yeah, Tuesday. You could probably trade someone who has it later in the week if you wanted," Finn responded, reaching over to put his hand on Poe's shoulder, while Rey looked between the two of them.

"Latrine duty?" she asked, and Finn nodded. "Explain?" Rey continued when Finn didn't elaborate.

"Since we won, the pilots have to do our chores for the week. They drew them from a hat, and Poe drew sanitation duty." Rey laughed, and when she realized he was actually serious, she laughed harder.

"Sorry, I'm sorry—that’s really unfortunate," she said, after making an effort to control her giggling.

"Hey, I can survive anything for one week. I think it's only three days, technically." Poe shrugged. "Snap gets kitchen duty, which he hates, but someone made a rule about 'no trading so we would truly suffer' or something." Poe opened his eyes and laughed. "Okay, I'm getting too warm. Let's go show you guys the swimming hole. Leave your dry clothes here. It's not far," he instructed, helping them out of the pool and definitely trying not to stare at the steam coming off their bodies in the morning air.

As they made their way down the hill, Finn and Poe linked their arms around Rey once again, and Poe got into the water first to find a good spot that was deep enough but not too deep. "You know we'd have better luck in the pool on base, but this is fun. Okay, Rey, you first," he said, since she looked cold.

Rey eyed him nervously, but sat down on a rock to slide in, wading across to where Poe opened his arms to her.

"Okay, now Finn. Don't slip, bud."

Finn watched Rey until she'd reached Poe, and then hopped into the water after her. He was at least a little used to the water, if not to swimming, and smiled at Rey when he reached them, because she looked a little nervous.

"I'm fine," she growled at him, and he held up both hands innocently.

"I didn't say anything! Why are you grouchy?" he asked her, and she raised her eyebrows at him.  "Look watch, it's not that bad when it's shallow like this," he said, ducking under the water and then standing back up. "See! No drowning."

"No one's going to drown on my watch," Poe told them. "We'll start with learning how to float on our backs and tread water. That way if you ever get into trouble, you can always do that. And we'll practice where it's shallow so you just stand up at any time. Finn, get back here, it's deep over there." He sighed. It was like working with children. "You want to keep your lungs full, that makes you buoyant. And you just relax and lean back, move your arms back and forth, maybe kick your feet a little. You should practice expending as little energy as possible, just floating." Poe demonstrated and smiled. "Finn's already done this, so Rey, you try. I'll help. And it's okay if it takes a few tries. Trick is not to panic or tense up. Just relax. I'm here and I won't let anything happen."

Rey had learned to meditate by relaxing most every muscle in her body, and it was easy enough to take a few deep breaths and lean back in the water. But as soon as her feet came off the rocky bottom, she dipped alarmingly and tried to sit up, succeeding only in dunking herself before she regained her feet and was able to stand. She spluttered, sneezed because there was water up her nose, and grumbled. "I'm trying that again," she said before Poe could, tipping back again and managing to get her feet up with the help of Poe’s hand at her back to keep her from sinking.  When she was floating, she felt him take his hand away, and stayed very still, forgetting deep breaths in favor of short breaths that made her feel like she was going to hyperventilate.

"Hey hey _breathe_ ," Poe instructed, hand hovering just under her butt in case she decided to dunk herself again. "I'm right here, and you're doing great. Slow breaths, you got this, darling." He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. "Finn, how you doing, buddy?" Poe asked without taking his eyes off Rey.

"Floating is the only thing I know how to do," Finn answered, sounding a little hazy. He liked floating—it was relaxing, and the water made everything kind of quiet and peaceful. "How're you guys?" he asked.

"Doing nothing is hard," Rey said, sounding a bit indignant, and Finn dropped his feet so he could stand up and look over at her.

"Isn't meditation doing nothing?" he asked, and she snorted softly.

"Not like this. You don't have to remember to stay relaxed or concentrate on not dunking yourself," she told him.

"It's okay, Rey," Poe told her firmly. "Try—do something with the Force to distract yourself. I don't know—you could—reach out...to me? To us? You can do that, right? Close your eyes, just focus on us being here with you." _Only don't go too deep,_ he wanted to say, but didn't, because he was asking her to trust him, and if he said that it meant he didn't trust her.

Rey raised an eyebrow at Poe, but did as he instructed, closing her eyes and reaching out with the Force, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Relaxing into the familiar meditation did help her to float, and she felt Poe move his hand away with the Force instead of with her skin. His mind was warm and felt good, even though there was something like—a wall, that she knew he didn't want her to see past, so she waited companionably just outside it, sensing him well enough from here (and she felt him relax, too, when she didn’t push). Reaching out further to Finn, she found him more open, full of a kindness that wasn't learned but somehow innate. They both felt so happy and comfortable. They made her happy.

Poe laughed, and when she opened her eyes, he had his hands raised above the water. "You're floating!"

Finn made his way over to the other two to see that Rey had perfected floating. "What'd you say to her?" he asked Poe softly, but Rey heard him.

"He told me to use the Force. Almost literally," she told him, closing her eyes again and smiling, feeling both of them right there, Poe still guarded, Finn with apparently no concept of guarding himself from her. It was sweet, in a way, and maybe a little dangerous, if people like Kylo Ren were running around. She opened her eyes and grinned up at both of them, then righted herself. As soon as her feet touched the bottom, she jumped up and threw her arms around Poe's neck, then dragged Finn into the embrace too. "No one drowned!" she laughed when she let both of them go and stood flat on her feet again.

"No one drowned," Poe echoed, arms going around both of them with a laugh. "That was only lesson one, though. Should teach you to dog-paddle, and then we can go to lunch."

Bolstered by her victory, Rey nodded. The water was warm—but not too warm—and comfortable, and it made her feel weightless and somehow less tired than she had been before.

"Okay, so this is kind of the reverse," Poe said. He assumed Finn had never seen a dog before, so he wouldn't bother with that description. "You lean forward in the water this time, with your chin up. You're gonna paddle your arms in a circular motion like this, hands flat. Legs kick out behind you, like this," he demonstrated a basic paddle kick with his fingers. Let's try that in the shallow end, okay? If you mess up, you just stand up."

Finn happily made his way to the shallower water, followed closely by Rey, who shouted encouragement when he tried to dog-paddle. Mostly, he sank until his feet touched the bottom, but he did manage some forward motion. "Alright if you're going to laugh, it's your turn," he said to Rey as she chuckled at his attempts to keep his head above the water. He splashed water at her face and she spluttered before laughing and splashing him back. "Okay, okay, enough," Finn said, holding his hands up, "Dare you to go farther than I did." He was fairly sure Rey couldn't resist a challenge like that, and he was correct. She was about as successful as he'd been, but managed a bit more distance before having to put her feet down to keep herself above water.

"Hey, hey, no dares. No daring," Poe growled. "It's not a contest—hey, stop splashing!"

Rey looked at Finn, and they both stood up to fling water at Poe, who threw his hands in front of his face, spluttering as they laughed.

Grinning evilly, Poe stepped off the shallow end and paddled backwards into the deep water, out of splash range. "Ha!" he said, and then, as a thought struck him, "Th-this is _not_ a dare. You stay there and practice. No splashing!"

"I dare you to grab him and dunk him when he comes back," Rey said quietly to Finn, who looked over at her and found her grinning.

"Yeah okay. But we have to at least pretend to behave or he'll know something's up," he countered, motioning for Rey to take the lead and try dog-paddling again. Once she'd had more success, he did the same, glancing every so often to see if Poe was planning on coming back any time soon.

Convinced that they were behaving, Poe had a bit of fun himself (and okay, he took the opportunity to show off a bit), diving and swimming around in the deep end while he watched them practice.

"Looking good!" he said eventually, swimming closer, a few strong strokes and he was there. "Rey, keep your chin up higher and you'll stop swallowing water. Finn, as much as I love looking at your butt, if you drop lower in the water you'll have an easier time."

"Like this?" Finn asked, dropping his feet a little. Poe was right—it did give him a lot better ability to propel himself forward. He nearly crashed into Rey, and they both stopped paddling, laughing.

"Yeah, perfect, arch your back," he said, correcting his form slightly, just an excuse to touch him, really, and Poe smiled. Then he turned to Rey, who was beginning to flail slightly. "Okay, easy, where's my cool collected Jedi, hm? Gentle strokes, you've got this," he said, tipping her chin up again. "Also you might let your hair out of your buns. I don't think it's going to be very comfortable when it gets waterlogged."

Rey smirked up at him. "I'll let it down when we get out," she said. "When do we get to try the deeper water?"

"Well, I guess whenever you feel ready—" Poe began, feeling Rey curl a leg around his legs, which he was going to bring up before "Now!" she cried.

Finn, who'd been loitering nearby under the pretense of still practicing, launched himself at Poe, hitting him at chest-level and taking them both down, spluttering and flailing. Rey laughed, until Finn's flailing caught her feet and she was inadvertently dunked as well.

The rest was a blur of water and Finn and spluttering. Not having expected that, Poe was coughing when he came up, but Finn was too, which made Poe feel better.

"Got you!" she laughed as Finn and Poe resurfaced. Her hair was thoroughly soaked, now, and Poe was right that it wasn't very comfortable, but she'd lose the ties if she took them off in the water.

"YOU," Poe growled, "you were in on this together! You little sneaks!" And in the moment of hesitation where they thought he was really angry, Poe had caught both of them, mercilessly tickling them as they screamed and splashed and failed in the unfamiliar element. And, okay, they knew they weren't really being attacked, but if Poe could take on two kids raised as warriors just because they were in the water, they really did need more experience in it. Either that or maybe they just were that pathetically ticklish. Either way, he knew what he was doing would be impossible in a fair fight.

“Let go!”

“Help! I give up!”

“I’m sorry!” they shouted, gasping for air, and Poe eventually let them go.

Once they were all three thoroughly soaked and had swallowed an excessive amount of water, Finn floundered his way back toward the shore and found a warm rock to sit on. Rey was still enjoying trying to dunk Poe (and having absolutely no luck—she ended up underwater more often than he did, but at least she seemed less terrified than she had been). The sight of them laughing at each other and enjoying themselves did things to Finn's heart—he was pretty sure he was actually about to melt.

Poe laughed as Rey tried to dunk him, and because he knew when to take breaths and evade her underwater she was growing frustrated. "Okay, easy, easy, don't blow a gasket," he said, finding it completely precious how she bared her teeth when she was concentrating, and Poe steeped off the shallow end with her still grappling him and let them float to the deep end.

"Hey! Wait!" Rey cried, clinging to him for dear life now that she couldn't touch the bottom.

“It’s okay,” Poe said tenderly, floating on his back and holding Rey up on top of him with a wry smile. “It’s not like no one’s touched the bottom of this part,” he said, his grin turning slightly evil.

“No! Take me back! Poe!”

Finn closed his eyes for a minute, listening to Rey and Poe out in the deeper water, Rey sounding as if she was convinced she was going to die, and Poe reassuring her repeatedly.

When Poe suddenly caught a lungful of water, he briefly thought Finn had jumped on them, knocking them under the water, and he was going to get mad because that time they were in deep water and it wasn't safe and it actually _hurt_. When he realized it was his _ankle_ that hurt, and that there was something wrapped around his ankle, and he looked down through the murky water into an _eye_ , however, Poe was more annoyed than afraid. First of all, there hadn't been a monster in the pond last month, and second, now he'd never get either of them back into the water ever again!

_Priorities._

Finn heard a splash and then a suspicious quiet,  which made him open his eyes to make sure they weren't launching some sort of sneak attack on him this time—

But they were gone.

"Guys?" Finn asked, not seeing them anywhere. "Alright, very funny, where'd you go?" 

No answer. They couldn’t be underwater this long on purpose.

However, something did flail out of the water out near where they'd been—a hand or—was that a _tentacle_?!—and Finn didn't think twice before running to the speeder for a blaster.

Instinct took over, and Poe attacked, without letting go of Rey. It was slimy, there were tentacles, and it wasn't very big, but it was strong.

Okay and air was also going to be an issue. _Get Rey free_ , he told himself. Priorities. He wrestled with limbs, jabbed his fingers into the squishy eye, and then Rey was free.

Finn ran out as deep as he could without getting the blaster wet and called again. "Guys! Come on, give me something to aim at!"

Rey wasn't sure how, but she broke the surface, gulping in air.

Finn saw Rey surface briefly nearby, only to duck under again when she failed to remember a single thing Poe had just been teaching her. The next time she managed to get her head above water, Finn held her staff out to her, yanking her back to where she could stand, or at least in that direction. When a tentacle surfaced, dragging Poe with it by the ankle, Finn shot without hesitating. The creature that had Poe shrieked, its useless tentacle dropping Poe just out of Finn's reach before dragging him under.

Rey delivered a parting shot, seriously debating whether she should go back in after him. "Poe!" Rey cried, torn between fear of the water, fear of this monster, and needing to fight, needing to save Poe.

"Rey I can't _see_ it, where is it? What is it? Where do I shoot?" Finn cried to her as she jabbed at the water with the end of her staff.

"Wait,” Rey said, re-thinking this. “Just wait, and get ready to shoot," Rey said, holding her staff at her side. She'd lifted things like R2-D2, and that had been on dry land where he weighed no insignificant amount. She could damn well raise some stupid pond monster far enough for Finn to shoot it and make it let go of their friend.

"What're you—oh—fuck—okay," Finn said, leveling the gun at where the monster was basically guaranteed to come out of the water. It didn't go far, not really, but he didn't need the whole body out of the water to shoot it where it would do some real damage. Shooting tentacles clearly hadn't worked—it’d just grabbed Poe with one of the remaining ones.

"I'm losing it, Finn, hurry up," Rey said in a strained voice, so Finn shot the thing several more times, until Rey lost her hold on it and it dropped heavily back into the water.

"Poe? Poe! Come on, where are you?" they both shouted from where they were standing, as far out as possible while still being able to stand up. “Poe?!”


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay, how had it come to this, honestly?_ Poe demanded of the Force or whatever god was listening. They had been enjoying themselves in the closest thing to home they had, and Poe had been in this damned pool twelve times before—all the Resistance had!—and okay, out of the three of them he'd rather _he_ be the one stuck tangling directly with the water creature rather than the other two who could barely swim, but hand to hand combat _really_ wasn't his thing and he didn't even have a weapon.

It just wasn't fair. Poe was doing his best to throw punches and rend with his fingernails in soft crevices he found, but tentacles tightened around him, slowly pinning him. He was surprised suddenly—and the creature seemed to be, too—by suddenly being...in the air? Oh, right, he was friends with a Jedi. He gulped in air, coughing, and "Aim for the—" he said, or was about to say, before they were underwater again. The eyes! He thought desperately, but neither Finn nor Rey were mind readers—

Except one of them was. _Rey_! he thought desperately. Did the Force even work that way? He punched it in the eye again, and it loosened its hold, but he was taking in water and it wasn't enough. _Rey, hit it in the eye_!

"Finn! Finn, hit it in the eye! I can't drag it out here again, but I can make it an easy target," Rey told him, not sure how she knew, but getting the distinct feeling that it had something to do with Poe, of all people. She grabbed hold of the monster again, this time merely holding it near the surface, enough for Finn to get a shot off at the eye.

Just when Poe's vision was greying around the edges, the beast seized and released him, and Poe clawed toward the surface.

"That did it!" Rey cried, as the beast shuddered and released Poe, and she jabbed her staff into it in a final parting shot, and then nudged it under Poe's flailing hand. He grabbed it, and she hauled him ashore.

Swimming before Poe’s vision was a pole, and then a pale hand, and then two dark ones, and there were no more tentacles and he was coughing up water and then flopping onto his back to just _breathe_.

Rey, with Finn’s help, dragged Poe up the bank and dropped next to them, trying to catch her breath and shaking from adrenaline and the realization that she'd nearly drowned. That _Poe_ had nearly drowned. And been eaten! She reached a hand over for Poe, to check that he was alright. 

"Don't _ever_ do that _again_ ," Finn scolded, hauling both Poe and Rey into sitting positions and hugging them tight. "I thought you were gone," he said in a small, sad voice. "I turned around and I couldn't find you," he added, and leaned back to look at both of them. "Are you okay? Both of you?" He touched their faces, cupping their cheeks in his hands and looking between them.

"I guess the good news is that it would be hard to have a worse swimming lesson than that," she commented, but before anyone could laugh there was an orange and white blur bleeping and whining shrilly among them, rolling dizzy circles around them.

Poe clung to Finn, disoriented and still coughing up water all over his shoulder, and reached out to grasp Rey as well. "What the fuck," he gasped, and coughed again. "What the actual—that _wasn't_ here last time. That's not supposed to—are you okay?" He pulled back to look at them: they looked waterlogged and wide-eyed, but unhurt, except for the red welts all over Rey's legs, which mirrored his own skin. "Oh stars, Rey, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he said, and turned his eyes to Finn: "Finn, Finn," he said, surging forward to kiss him. "I'm okay. We're okay." Now that he wasn’t likely to throw up water all over him, he laid a hand on BB-8, who stilled their spinning with a sad hoot. “I’m okay, Bee.” He was shaking, but so were Finn and Rey. If he didn’t know better, BB-8 looked like they were shaking, too.

Finn kissed Poe hard, just to reassure himself that he really was okay, and then turned to Rey, resting his forehead against hers. He pet her still-sodden hair and listened to all three of them breathing, their individual rhythms evening out and matching each other as they calmed slightly. "You're sure you're both alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. We should—we should move further from—" he coughed again, pulling away from Finn to empty water from his guts out onto the grass. "Fuck," he groaned. "We should—report that—get some signs put up. So no one else goes in." They slid further back from the water, a safe distance, though that was arbitrary. Maybe it had only recently crawled in? he shuddered. "Okay, I'm sorry. That _really_ wasn’t supposed to happen. Swimming isn't usually like that, I swear!" He tried to grin at them, but they both looked too afraid. "Hey, come here," Poe sighed, embracing them both closely again and kissing them both. "I'm sorry we scared you, Finn. Sorry it got you, Rey," he murmured, crushing them to him. "And thanks for getting me out of there," he added, in a whisper. “I owe you one.”

Finn inched a little closer to both Poe and Rey, one arm around each of their shoulders. Rey was still shivering a little, and she was more than happy to be held close in a group hug, reassured by physical presence that they were all okay. "Thank you for making it let go of me," she told Poe.

"Next time, we swim in the _indoor_ pool," Finn declared, voice a low rumble as he spoke softly.

Poe nodded. "Fine, fine," he said, glad they weren't ruined for all swimming (and frankly glad he wasn't). "Yeah." A few moments later he pulled back to sit up. "Hey, it still stands: no one drowned, because I am awesome!" he pointed out brightly, and Rey managed a laugh at that. "Okay, let's go get our clothes on and head back to base," Poe suggested, allowing Finn to help him to his feet, which was all well and good until he put weight on that one ankle. After being kicked and twisted and squashed, his ankle had now been mauled by a lake monster as well, so Poe could perhaps begin to allow himself to consider it a big deal—now that he couldn't _walk_. "Okay wait, _ouch_ ," he said," hopping on one foot and leaning on Finn as BB-8 whistled in concern. "Did something to my foot again, damn it."

Finn stopped walking, waiting while Poe leaned heavily on him and kept all weight off his ankle. All three of them stood and looked down at his foot for a minute, until Rey sighed softly. "It's definitely more purple than it was this morning," she said, crouching down to get a better look. "It's swollen, too, and—" she very gently rested her hand where the bruising was worst, "it's really warm." Finn shuffled a little so he'd be easier to lean on.

“Ow, okay, don’t touch it,” Poe hissed, and she stood up.

"On the bright side, you won't have to clean latrines this week if you can't walk without crutches," he said, and Rey rolled her eyes.

Poe shook his head. "No way! If I'm out of cleaning the latrines then I'm out of the sky.” His eyes always took on a dark tint when he said that. “I'll talk to Dr. K but I'm sure she can just stick me in a cast. Shit, I'm supposed to go on patrol tomorrow, too." He eased himself down onto the foot in an attempt to force it cooperate, but Rey slotted herself underneath his shoulder to stop him.

"Hey. It won't help to make it worse, come on," she said, wrenching his arm down and forcing him to lean on her. "Let's make sure he actually _gets_ to Dr. Kalonia, huh, Finn?"

Poe struggled briefly, but soon felt stupid, and laughed as they helped him back to where they left their clothes. "Somebody tell me how the ex-stormtrooper and the feral desert girl are better about doctors than the guy who had a functional childhood?" he huffed.

"Dunno. We think you're spoiled," Rey teased.

"Oh, _am_ I?" Poe asked, but of course, there were illiterate Tuskan Raiders on Tattooine who led more privileged lives than the two angels who were now helping him struggle into his trousers. He was spoiled, all right.

"Yeah, but we're okay with it as long as you give us chocolate. Right?" Finn said to Rey, and she brightened.

"Yes!"

"And hugs, of course," Finn added.

"Of course," Rey agreed, sidling up next to Poe again so he would lean on her. "You should go with Finn on the lighter speeder, and BB-8 can come with me on the heavier one," she suggested.

"I can still _drive_ ," Poe said, but wasn't going to complain about not riding alone. These models didn't require the use of feet, and luckily his X-wing was right-dominant, so even if his left foot was weaker for a few days he would still be able to fly, too.

They were back on base fairly quickly, and Poe made Finn and Rey take him to file the report ("We don't want anyone trying to go for a swim with that monster still in there!") before visiting the medical wing, BB-8 beeping worriedly around their ankles.

"I thought you were playing _flag_ -boloball?" Dr. Kalonia sighed, seeing Poe limping into her office.

Poe shook his head. "No! I mean, well, yes. This is something else! I was _viciously_ _attacked_ by a _monster_ and lucky to escape with my life," he declared overdramatically, so that she rolled her eyes. This was comfortable, though: Poe wouldn't know what to do with Dr. Kalonia if she weren’t mildly annoyed at him. "Let's get you on the table..." she said, calling a medical droid to help.

"He's um...he's not far wrong, really," Finn told Dr. Kalonia, "There was a water monster—in the pond—it had tentacles—and it tried to drown both him and Rey." Next to him, Rey nodded supportively, and then froze when Kalonia pinned her with a stare.

"And you escaped unscathed?" she asked. Rey shrugged.

"Just some welts from the tentacles—nothing like his ankle," she said, and then pulled up a trouser leg to reveal the circular marks when Dr. Kalonia didn't look entirely convinced. She looked at Poe's ankle for a minute, glanced back at Rey, and then sighed.

"Was it exceptionally annoyed at you, Dameron, or would you like to try telling me what else happened to your ankle?" she asked tiredly.

Poe's mouth flapped. "Well, I mean, boloball," he said. "I guess it was a _little_ sore after..."

"So you thought you'd ‘walk off’ a fractured tibia?" It wasn't a question, though, because: "Of course you did," Dr. Kalonia added, sounding a thousand years old as she began punching a program into the computer so that the droid could take care of him.

Poe squirmed in embarrassment.

"What _happened_?" Rey said.

"I—don't—know? Kicking? Tackling?" Poe tried to brush it off. "You can just put me in a boot, right? This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Oh, don't worry. I heard about the latrine cleaning, so I wouldn't _dare_ put you on restricted duties." Dr. Kalonia smiled, leaving him to the droid. "If you want pain pills, you can get them from the chemist." She and Poe both knew he wouldn't.

Finn was glaring a little bit, trying to remember if any of his players had been slide-tackling people, and having no luck, when Rey bumped his shoulder.

"What's that face for?" she asked, and he growled, causing her to raise both eyebrows.

"Trying to decide who gets to run tenmiles next time we train," he said darkly, and she laughed, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Don't take it out on your soldiers. Did you honestly think it wasn't going to turn into tackling?" she asked, and he shrugged, grumbling. "Poe, Finn is being ridiculous," Rey said, raising her voice so Poe would hear her over the soft whirring of the medical droid and BB-8's quiet, worried chattering.

"Finn, hey, Finn, it's fine. It's just a foot, sweetheart," Poe said, reaching for Finn's hand, and when he reluctantly gave it to him, Poe brought it to his lips to kiss each of his fingertips. "The squid was just hungry and doing what animals do. And your soldiers were just playing too rough and doing what animals do— _I mean_ —” he said, and laughed. “Just kidding. We were playing a game that gets rough sometimes." He shrugged. "I'm okay, Finno, I promise."

The med droid finally let him up with a hard cast covering his foot and going up part of his leg. The droid was trying to hand him a prescription, but Poe waved it away. "Thanks, MT, really, I'm fine. Thank you for your fine work. Okay, I'm starving. Let's go get some food?" he suggested to his friends, walking with something of an awkward gait but not in much pain. "I was thinking we could talk to everyone about getting another jam session going tonight or soon, since Rey's here!" Poe clapped an arm around Rey's shoulders and Finn's waist, this time leaning on them because he wanted to, not because he had to, which was much better.

"Jam session?" Rey asked

Finn brightened—he didn't like being annoyed at his soldiers, and was happy to be distracted from it: "So many people play music, here, Rey! And some of them sing—Poe could probably teach you quetarra," he said excitedly. "And Snap plays a drum, and Karé plays two drums, and Jess plays some kind of flute." He was still chattering on about songs and things, especially Poe's singing, when they entered the mess hall.

"Dameron! What happened to you? Hells, how much fun did you _have_ last night?" Jess called to them as they entered, and Finn ducked his head, blushing, while Rey laughed.

" _You kinkshame me in my own mess hall_?!" Poe cried way louder than necessary, pretending to be wounded. Jess hooted and Snap guffawed, and that was all the teasing they got. "PS: there's a kriffing scum-squid in the swimming hole, 0/10, do not recommend."

"Holy shit, Dameron, _really_?" Iolo asked, eyes bugging out. "Was it a whole _meter_ long?"

Everyone laughed.

"It was at least seven… _ty_ meters, thank you!" Poe protested, even though the entire swimming hole wasn't half that size.

They were permitted to go get food at that point, with everyone laughing, and Finn and Poe again helped point out the best dishes to Rey, who piled her tray high on instinct.

Finn intentionally didn't fill his plate as full as he could have. Rey had a habit of getting more than she could possibly eat, and then she'd try to eat all of it anyway—food never went to waste around her—and Finn was convinced that someday, she was going to make herself sick.

When, after they had been eating for some time, and she began to look a little overwhelmed at the amount of food still left on her plate, Finn gestured at Poe's uneaten food. "Hey, if you don't feel like eating that, you could save me the trouble of getting up and getting more," he told him, watching Rey out of the corner of his eye.

"You could have some of mine," she offered, looking a little relieved. Finn grinned at her and traded her plate for his empty one.

"Thanks! Offer still stands, Poe. Unless Snap wants it," he said, and Snap turned at hearing his name.

"Oh, hell yes. You got the last of the lasagna," he said, eyeing Poe's plate.

Poe was hungry, exhausted from yesterday, and last night, and this morning, but Finn was cute and Snap just looked so sad that Poe divided up his leftovers between them and picked off Rey's tray until he was stuffed.

"So what do you guys say to another jam session? Tonight?"

There was some debate over this, and some confusion, with the extra duties and extra patrols complicated by the boloball match (which had nearly given Poe an aneurysm trying to schedule around), so after a long debate they decided tomorrow night would be best, fully aware that Poe and Karé would arrive late. 

"I'll leave my bongos in Iolo’s room for anyone who wants ‘em ‘til we get back," Karé offered.

"That's what she said," Poe couldn't resist adding, and the table burst into juvenile laughter.

After lunch, they spent most of the day watching holovids on Poe's bed or playing holochess or napping. At one point, Rey decided she needed a refresher after their earlier swimming adventure, giving Finn and Poe enough time to choose a movie to show her after dinner. They ate early, and Finn persuaded one of the cooks to give him an absolutely ridiculous amount of popcorn. Rey kept asking what they were doing, but receiving no real answers. Finally, they returned to Poe and Finn's room (which was rapidly become Poe, Finn, and Rey's room whenever she was on base) and rearranged the bed for watching a movie. When Poe attempted to help, both Rey and Finn glared at him. "No helping. Stay there," Finn told him the third time he tried to move from his place on the bed to help.

" _Finnnn_ ," Poe grumbled, feeling like a slob while his friends moved beyond just getting the room ready to watch a holovids to, like, actively tidying up. "No, stop. Those are _my_ dirty socks and I want them left where they are! Hey! I'm never going to find that if you put it there." He deflated as they now seemed to be doing it to annoy him. Leave it to Poe to fall in love with a pair of neat-freaks.

"Look, I'm not staying here if it looks like this," Rey threatened.

"Hey, no, no, that's not a bed pillow! That's a floor pillow! It’s supposed to be down there!" Poe protested as Rey picked up a cushion from the floor. "Reyyy," he whined, but hissed as Rey lifted his leg to slide the cushion under his foot. "Ow, hey,” he pouted, but that felt immediately better. “Stop being nice to me, it makes it hard to be mad," he grumbled.

"Oh no, he's discovered our cunning plan," Finn said to Rey, in the driest voice he could manage. It made her laugh, and she finished what she was doing (putting more dirty clothes in a hamper) before sitting down on the bed, shoulder to shoulder with Poe. She took his hand a little shyly, and very deliberately, while Finn picked up a few more 'floor' cushions and threw them on the bed so they could make a nest of pillows if they wanted.

Poe glanced sidelong at their hands intertwined, trying not to stare obviously—feeling rather like when Finn first felt his heartbeat, like he might frighten her off if he moved, and he would rather break both his ankles than scare her away right now. Only once he was sure, he gave her hand a small squeeze, and when she looked up at him, he added a small encouraging smile and a kiss on the nose.

Maybe he could get used to loving someone and not having sex with them, after all.

On the other hand, Poe was positively lusting after Finn wearing the shorts he liked to sleep in—they weren't even that short or tight, Poe was just really whipped, and Poe flashed him a brilliant smile, which earned him a kiss as Finn crawled into the bed.

"Shouldn't we put Rey in the middle?" Poe said as Finn settled on his other side, not that he was complaining: "So we can both whisper things to her throughout the movie?" The popcorn was suddenly in his lap, and BB-8 rolled by the bed, bleeping to themselves.

"Finn can whisper to me from there. We need to make sure _you_ don’t try anything," Rey said, reaching over with her other hand for some popcorn. On Poe's other side, Finn set about making himself comfortable, scrunching around until he was pressed against Poe's side like he'd been born to fit there. He sighed happily, then stretched an arm over Poe's lap to rest a hand on Rey's knee. She raised her eyebrows at him and smiled. "Done?" she asked, and he nodded sheepishly, nuzzling against Poe's chest. Rey rolled her eyes, but it was fond. "What're we watching?" she asked.

Poe couldn't hold in the giggle that bubbled up in his chest. "You two!" he said, wiggling his uninjured foot in delight. "Go on, Bee, you can start the movie. It's a good one, Rey, about the Old Republic. The Jedi being total badasses. Nothing like the Jedi these days, you know," he teased.

"Hey!" She cried, pinching his arm, and he laughed, taking Finn's hand in his. "Okay and I'll need you guys to feed me, since I have no free hands. Not that I would have them any other way."

"Poe, hush, it's starting," Rey said, pushing two pieces of popcorn into his mouth.

A half hour into the movie, Rey realized that Finn was being awfully quiet, for someone who apparently loved talking during movies. She looked over to see that he was out cold, his cheek resting against Poe's chest and his hand completely relaxed where it rested on her knee. She yawned just from looking at him and inched down until she was comfortable, only half-noticing that she was half draped over Poe's lap.

Poe was in heaven. He was warm and comfortable and surrounded by people who loved him and even the prospect of cleaning ninety toilets before breakfast tomorrow, after which he was due on patrol, couldn't ruin this moment. The movie was a favorite, but even though Finn had loved it last time, he was out like a light before the first fight scene. Even Rey seemed to be fading. Poe wouldn't have slept, but he could sleep anywhere, and he had to be up early tomorrow and they had arranged the pillows _perfectly_ to support his neck and—it was an accident.

After Finn and Poe had dropped off, Rey eventually gave up trying to stay awake, asking BB-8 to mark where they were and turn off the holovid so she could put the popcorn aside, toss blankets over them, and curl up on Poe's thigh, holding tight to both of her boys.


	3. Chapter 3

Poe woke too early, but duty and BB-8 called, so he slid out of bed leaving Finn and Rey to tangle back up into the warm spot he had left. Nothing was harder to leave, he decided, as he dressed hurriedly (the refresher was coming _after_ this) and got to the supply closet. Private Coni had briefed him on his tasks and Poe was ready to give it his all.

Of course, it had been a while since he had stepped foot inside a communal bathroom.

It was disgusting, but Poe had fought off a squid yesterday, and that was disgusting too and he had survived. Also, if no one saw him suffering at this task, if he executed it by the book, perfectly, then this wasn't a punishment and _he_ was the real winner.

Poe worked for close to three hours and even so, when he returned to his room the lights were still off and his young charges were still asleep, snuggled close together. Poe wanted more than anything to join them, but he felt inhumanly filthy, so he made his way to the refresher and turned it on hot hot hot, filling the small space instantly with steam.

Finn woke up later, his arm asleep because Rey was using it as a pillow. He smiled, hesitant to move and risk waking her up, but pretty sure he heard Poe in the refresher. "Rey. Hey, wanna wake up for a second?" he asked, and she mumbled at him. "Come on, need my arm back," he told her, and she finally moved, tucking her head closer to Finn's chest. He sighed softly and very carefully inched out of bed, then quietly padded to the bathroom. Since Poe wasn't exactly paying attention, he managed to get his clothes off and stepped into the refresher, resting a hand on Poe's waist and kissing his shoulder.

Poe was scrubbing soap out of his hair for the third time when he felt a sudden touch and yelped and recoiled on instinct, laughing when he turned around and it was only Finn. "Kriff! You scared me!" he laughed, throwing his arms around Finn.

Finn started, stepping back when Poe yelped. He hadn't intended to scare him, but grinned when he laughed. "Sorry! I'm sorry!" he said, putting his arms around Poe's shoulders and kissing his cheek. "I didn't hear you come back. Were the toilets super gross?" he asked.

Poe wrapped both arms around Finn and kissed him. "Don't even mention them now that I have you here," he gasped when they parted for air, and chuckled. "Is Rey still asleep? Before I screamed, I mean?" Poe stuck out his tongue playfully.

"She was," Finn said, and shrugged. "I tried to wake her up and she mostly grumbled at me, so she may still be sleeping." He pushed a lock of hair off of Poe's face and kissed him again, carding his fingers through his soft, clean hair. "Sorry I fell asleep during the movie last night. Did you finish it?"

Poe hummed, pressing their brows together. "Last night was perfect, don't apologize. I have no idea if we finished it, either—I fell asleep, too." He grinned a little sheepishly and nosed in for a kiss. "I was very comfortable, after all you and Rey did for me. Love you, Finno."

Finn's heart always warned when Poe called him by that nickname. "I love you too," he answered, running his fingers gently through Poe's hair. "How many times did you wash your hair?" he asked, grinning. It was soft in a way that could have only happened if he's washed it more than once.

Poe laughed, covering his mouth as it echoed loudly. "Enough to get the gross out?" He admitted. "I may be a slob, but I don't like being _dirty_...well, except with you," he added in an attempt at a sultry voice, backing Finn into the corner of the refresher.

"Yeah? Well, we _are_ in the refresher," Finn said, letting Poe back him up until his back was to the corner of the refresher and then grinning at him. He bent closer and nuzzled Poe's cheek, hands resting softly on his hips. "How's your ankle, love?" he asked, trying a nickname to see if it would sound weird coming from him.

Poe bit his lip. "Mm, I like the sound of that," he purred, ignoring the question and leaning in to kiss Finn's neck just behind his jaw. His hands wandered down to paw at Finn's hips and ass. "Call me 'love' again." Love was a weakness to stormtroopers, and sure Finn probably didn't mean it like that, but the thought of that kind of power made him giddy.

" _My_ love," Finn said, leaning into the kiss and humming softly, his own hands exploring the lines of Poe's back, his ribs and the dimples on his pelvis right above his ass, and eventually his ass, too. "Sounds better when you say it," he added quietly. Endearments sounded natural coming from Poe, no matter what they were and whether he was saying them in a sleepy-soft voice or when they were having sex. Finn wasn't sure the same was true when he used the same endearments, but if Poe liked it, he'd take his word for it.

"Ohh yeah," Poe moaned, eyes sliding shut as he ground their hips together. "You know I never thanked you _properly_ for saving my life," he teased, smiling against his neck. "If you think you can keep quiet? We don't want to wake Rey."

"I think I can manage, for you," Finn said, offering Poe a smile that turned a little sly. "Can _you_?" he purred in Poe's ear, gliding one hand up his back to rest at the nape of his neck, not yet touching his hair but clearly intending to go in that direction.

Poe laughed and licked his lips, and then licked Finn's lips. "I can if my mouth is otherwise occupied." He kissed Finn once more and stepped back slightly. "Give me your hands." These he used as leverage to drop to one knee, and then both knees, taking Finn's hardness in his mouth without hesitation, without teasing (Finn didn't _need_ any more teasing), and then he guided Finn's hands to his hair.

Finn whimpered, his knees going a little shaky with momentary surprise before he leaned back against the wall, not guiding Poe for the moment, but tugging his hair a little insistently. "Gods, I love you. And not—not just because of this," he panted.  "But— _stars_ , love—you’re amazing." He was going to have to use some other endearments soon, or 'love' was going to lose all meaning—but for now, he'd continue using that one.

Poe moaned gratefully, closing his eyes as he got into a rhythm, working Finn quickly and expertly and lovingly. This was so hot. He loved every bit of it, every sensation, Finn's weight on his tongue and the way he tasted and his hands in his hair, the tiles digging into his knees, Finn's little whimpers and moans. The endearments spilling from Finn's lips were making Poe painfully hard, completely untouched, and Poe needed only one hand to finish himself off as Finn came deep in his throat.

"Mm, that's the kind of dirty I want," Poe gasped, once he had swallowed everything and kissed Finn's hip, holding him against the tiles as his knees trembled. "Help me up?" he asked once he felt he could stand safely, and smiled up at Finn past wet lashes. "I love you. You make me so happy, Finn."

"Come here," Finn said fondly, reaching down to pull Poe up from the tile floor. He put his arms around Poe's waist, hands clasped loosely at the small of Poe's back to hold him close. He was still panting a little, but he gave Poe a deep, unhurried kiss. "You make me happier," he told him.

Poe blushed at that, resting his head on Finn's shoulder. "Love making you happy. And if it's doing something I enjoy, too, well, lucky me," he said, with a small giggle. They held each other, neither moving, neither speaking, for a few minutes, and Poe closed his eyes, letting himself relax. "I don't want to know what time it is. Snap and I are supposed to be leaving at 0900...is that soon?"

"Yes, that's soon! Like in about 30 minutes!" Rey called from the bedroom. "And I can hear absolutely everything you guys say and... _do_...in there! _Everything_!"

Poe and Finn looked at each other, and Poe laughed, since Rey sounded more amused than annoyed.

Poe groaned, shutting off the water. "Sorry, Rey!" He looked around. "Hey, er—since you people cleaned up all my crap, can you hand me some clothes?"

There was rustling on the other side of the door, and then it swung open and two sets of clothes were thrown in. One was Poe's familiar flight suit, and the other— "I couldn't tell whose clothes were whose, so you get those," Rey said as Finn held up one of Poe's t-shirts. She'd managed to throw him a pair of trousers that actually belonged to him, probably because they looked like they belonged more to a soldier uniform than a pilot one.

"But I don't want _this_ flight suit!" Poe pretended to complain, and wasted many minutes trying to keep Finn _out_ of his clothes by protesting that that was _his_ shirt and _his_ underwear and okay the trousers were Finn's, and by the time they were presentable, if still giggling, precious minutes had passed.

Once they were both dressed, they opened the door to find Rey sitting cross-legged on the bed while she read a holopad. She looked up at them and rolled her eyes. "You two are ridiculous," she said, smiling when Finn walked over and kissed her on the head.

"Neither of us wanted to wake you, not when you were all curled up and happy and sleeping," Finn told her, and she shook her head fondly before looking at Poe.

"You have fifteen minutes," she informed him, and tossed him a protein bar that had been sitting next to her knee.

"Damn it!" Poe said, noting the time and hurriedly pulling on the rest of his flight gear, his blaster, his vest. "Okay, quetarra's there, if you don't mind bringing it out for me tonight. I should be home before everyone packs in, but if I'm not, don't wait up for me." He kissed both of them on the lips, twice, before BB-8 bleated at him. "Okay, okay, come on, BB-8!, what are you waiting for?" he cried, hurtling down the hall with the protein bar in his pocket. 

He pumped the air with a fist when he arrived in the hangar before Karé, and could leisurely scarf his "breakfast" while going through pre-flight checks.

Back in Poe's room—their room—Rey and Finn watched Poe and BB-8 go. "He's just—literally nonstop, isn't he?" she laughed, and turned to Finn. "Okay, I'm going to use the refresher," she said. "Unless we're going to go swimming again or something similarly ridiculous."

Finn smiled fondly as he took Rey's spot and the holopad. "Yeah, that's Poe alright. Stop or go and not much in between," he agreed.  "There are extra towels under the sink, and your toothbrush should still be there," he told her as she walked toward the refresher. Since he was pretty sure she could still hear him, he raised his voice a little and called, "Want to help me throw recruits around today? I promise it's fun." She laughed over the sound of the water.

"Yeah? Sure, I'll help. I'm supposed to be training anyway, although Master Luke failed to specify just what counts as training. Maybe they can practice fighting someone who is force sensitive and can literally toss them across the room—not that I can do that, yet. Or would, if I could. Maybe to Ren," she said. "He did throw me," Rey continued after a minute, washing her face. Poe had a lot of bathing products, and she was confused as to the use of most of them. "Anyway, sure," she said. "What time is that? Can we eat first?" She liked going to the mess hall. A whole room dedicated to food, where she could have as much as she wanted, without having to earn it. "Also, do you have any clothes that would fit me? Since you two share clothes I guess Poe wouldn't mind..."

"Probably we do, I just have to find them," Finn said, setting down the holopad and going to rummage in the closet. He found a shirt that was even a bit small for Poe, and some of the loose trousers that they both liked to wear that tied at the waist. The legs had, for some reason, once been cut off at the ankles, but they were good for sparing since there wasn't anything for feet to get caught on. He passed them around the door to Rey and looked at the clock. "Training is at 1100, so we should have time. A lot of us eat breakfast early and then eat after training, but clearly that didn't happen today," he said.

Rey came out, toweling off her hair and dressed in her friends' clothes. She liked that, more than she thought she would. "Okay, let's go. I don't want to train on a full stomach any more than on am empty one." Rey took Finn's arm, letting her hair dry before pulling it up into her usual buns.

"Well, mostly we just put them through their paces for a bit and watch them spar with each other before we actually have to train," Finn said as they walked arm in arm to the mess hall. "Some of them will probably be in the mess hall—there’s always that one or two who like to run in five minutes before training starts because they woke up late and were eating." He smiled over at Rey, then, very innocently and a little sheepishly, said, "Could you _really_ hear everything?  When we were in the 'fresher?  Or were you just joking?"

Rey laughed, eyes scrunching into half moons with delight. "No, no, not everything. I woke up when Poe screamed, and I could hear when you two were talking, but not what you said." She carefully avoided saying she could hear the other noises too, since it seemed to make Finn uncomfortable. "What's for breakfast?" She asked to change the subject.

"Apparently I startled him..." Finn said, grinning. "Probably pancakes! And those powdered eggs they make—real eggs are better, from actual chickens, we had those once, but these aren’t bad. Maybe waffles, too, and they always have fruit, although lately it hasn't been especially good." He elbowed her. "You'll like the pancakes and waffles. You put this stuff on them that's like pure sugar."

"Oh, yeah! Hey I think I liked that stuff," she said, trying to tone it down this time how much she actually put on her plate. So far she didn't like the black caf drink, even with milk and sugar, but she liked the way it smelled and filled a mug with it and another with some kind of juice. "It's all so good!" She told Finn a bit sheepishly as she sat down with more on her tray than he. "Okay, let me see. Torch, Reist, Iolo, Karé, Jess—oh no I'm sorry, it begins with a C..." She said, squeaking in embarrassment as she tried to name the vaguely familiar faces at the table.

"Coni. You're Rey, right? Luke's student," Coni said, before Iolo broke in, talking right over her.

" _And_ she flies the Falcon, so technically she's a pilot and therefore ours in any game that may involve teams— _ow_ what was that for? DA'AN YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS BEING VIOLENT." For that, Iolo earned a slap upside the head, and he yelped, ducking away from the rowdy soldier.  Across the mess hall, getting caf, Da'an just glance over and shrugged.

Rey laughed. "Coni, sorry. And Da'an," she said, tucking in to her pancakes. She thought, honestly, that Finn was a bit mad for differentiating between these eggs and "fresh" ones, since they all tasted great to her, though of course not as good as that pancakes, and whatever fried meat this was. All of the food was so good, and letting Finn steal a little from her plate she found she hadn't gotten too much this time.

"Alright, alright," Finn said when most everyone was done eating and it was time for training. He rounded up Coni and Da'an and Torch and took Rey's hand as they followed them to the training gym.

Rey liked holding Finn's hand, now that she knew that it was just because he liked holding hands, because he never had the chance. She never had the chance, either, not that she remembered, and she liked holding hands with Finn. And with Poe. It didn't seem to be...something that most people did, but also no one said it was wrong, so they held hands all the way to the training floor.

"What are we doing today?" Coni said. "Are we going to move to weapons training?" She sounded, to Rey, a bit overly excited about that.

Rey raised an eyebrow at Finn, since he seemed to be in charge.

Finn glanced over at Rey and then smiled slyly. For some reason that was beyond him, his recruits seldom recognized the grin for what it was—diabolical and scheming. "Sure, we can move to weapons training. But not with anything that shoots," he said, and raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "Everyone, go get a staff and gather at the middle mat." He turned to Rey, still grinning. "Before we spar, would you like to teach us a thing or two about staff?" he asked her.

"Finn, that's _all_ I've ever fought with, except the lightsaber, and I— _ohhh_ ," she said, finally catching on, and laughed. "Is the point of these exercises to completely demoralize them?" she hissed out of the corner of her mouth, unable to stop grinning.

"Maybe not _completely_. But that's why I'm going to spar with you last," Finn said with a soft laugh.  He went over to retrieve a staff of his own, and tossed Rey one as well before joining the rest of his soldiers. "This is Rey, who most of you know already. Those who don't...need to stop living under rocks," he paused at a few good-natured grumbles. "She's also far more qualified to teach anything about staff fighting than I am, so we're going to listen to her today, instead of me, for a change."

 _Oh, so they'll be demoralized **more** by seeing me wipe the floor with their fearless leader_ , she thought to herself with a giggle, but pride wasn't becoming of a Jedi, so Master Luke said, and she tried to remember that. She was blushing, anyway, when she stepped up to the center of the mat. "Okay, so. The important to thing to remember is there are two ends to worry about. You need to be mindful—" that was a Luke-word "of where both ends are in relation to your body," she said, and since a few rolled their eyes at that, she showed them a few rudimentary flips—which immediately earned their attention again.

Finn let the soldiers train in groups after they'd paid attention to Rey for a while, sending them to spar with her one at a time so he could spar with the partner who was left. Overall, there were shockingly few injuries, and all of them were relatively minor bruises. When everyone had sparred with Rey, Finn called a stop to training and called everyone over to gather around them.

"Did anyone even land a hit?" he asked Rey, who looked very chipper for someone who'd been sparring almost non-stop.

"I did!" chirped Reist, and Rey shrugged.

"He only hit my hair," she said. "But it counts." She sized Finn up and swung her staff. "Your turn?" she asked with a grin, beckoning him closer.

"My turn," Finn answered, moving closer and watching Rey carefully, content to wait for her to make the first move, even if the soldiers did start to get antsy.  He was pretty sure he could hear several of them actually shouting _bets_ , and was a little appalled that most of them seemed to be betting against him. Then again, they'd all fought Rey already, and he hadn't yet.

Rey grinned, all teeth, waiting for a while, but since they both tended to fight defensively they weren't actually going to teach the recruits anything, so she swept in, reluctantly, with a cautious spin, which he deflected. Rey'd never forget that first day they met when she wrecked him in their first encounter, but he'd been unarmed then, and though she had been watching him some all day, she knew he was trained since basically birth to be a fighter, and she didn't underestimate him. When he parried, she swung low, and then ricocheted off high, unbalancing him and making him take a few steps back. "All right?" she checked, careful to sound only a little condescending.

In answer, Finn bounded forward, swinging his staff at her legs and forcing her to either block or jump. At the same time, he charged forward a little recklessly, knocking her off balance and only narrowly avoiding tripping over her staff. He wasn't especially eager to get very close to her, where she could attack him even easier, but they couldn't spend the next hour pacing circles around each other, either.

Now that they were done feeling each other out—was _this_ flirting? she wondered—she was done fooling around. She stepped in, like lightning, clocking him in the head hard enough to knock him back, and then her staff was under his knees and Finn went down on the mat hard. It had been all instinct taking over, which was why she immediately dropped to his side with a cry. "Finn! Oh no, are you all right? I'm sorry! Finn!"

Finn was pretty sure he was seeing double, but when he heard Rey's voice right by his ear, he knew exactly where to grab to catch her wrist and pull, knocking her off balance. He wasn't quite up to doing anything other than that, but it was enough that he yanked her arm out from under her and knocked her over sideways. The soldiers thought all of this was hilarious, and cheered as Finn climbed a little unevenly to his feet and reached down warily to help Rey up.

"Finn, I—ahh!" Rey cried as Finn tugged her wrist and unbalanced her. "Hey, you said staves only!" she complained as she rolled and got to her feet, staff spinning in front of her. "Okay, we can call that round a draw if you want," she granted, a grin spreading across her face as she saw her next opening. Finn was favoring one side—whether from sparring before, or that fall, or the _exercises_ he had done with Poe, she wasn't sure, but it was open for a jab in the arm that made him drop his staff, and Rey followed up by knocking him sprawling on his side. "All right?" she checked again. Sparring with Finn and the recruits was more stressful than any other fight she had ever been in! She had to be careful with them while still trying to win, and she had never really—thought of fighting in those terms before.

"Yeah, but I might just stay here for awhile. Take a nap, you know, wait for the room to stop spinning, nothing exciting," Finn answered, grinning to show Rey that he really was alright.  "Unless I have to get up. Are we still sparring? I think you've won," he told her.

"Oh, Finn," she said, throwing her staff down. "Sorry. I'm not a great teacher like you are," she said, kneeling by him and helping him sit up. "We should stop," she agreed.

"What? No, you're a great teacher! Hey—no worrying," he said, climbing to his feet. "See? No harm done. And anyway, I did kind of ask for it." He threw an arm over her shoulder and looked at his soldiers, who all looked very amused, if a bit bedraggled. "Obstacle course?" he asked them, and received some questionably enthusiastic agreement. "Not right this second—put your staves away, take ten minutes, and meet by the start," he said before dismissing them temporarily.

Rey squeezed him. "Yeah. I'm sure you'd have won if it wasn't staff," she told him with a bright smile and only a little sarcasm, and kissed his cheek. "What's the obstacle course? Do we have to do it?"

"Well, I kind of always hated it when our commanders would make us do something and then refuse to do it themselves, but you're not the one who told them to do it. I'll do it, probably first, but you don't have to unless you want to," Finn told her. Usually they did the course multiple times, which was almost certainly what everyone was expecting, but they'd worked harder than usual training with the staves, and he was inclined to give them a break. Several of them were probably still feeling boloball, much as he was, and he had no intention of telling them to do the course three times when he was sure he'd be ready to drop dead after the first go-through.

"Oh, I'll do it! Sounds fun!" Rey said, smiling and handing Finn a water bottle. It was weird how they just had water—just— _about_. For anyone. That would never not be weird. "So how'd you land this job? Last I was here you were—didn’t you run a mission?" She realized belatedly that this could be a sensitive subject and she maybe shouldn't have asked.

"I ran a mission before I got kidnapped and Poe got shot, yeah," Finn answered, and shrugged.  "I uh...I didn't trust myself. In the field. I was afraid I'd get one of my soldiers injured," he told her.  He'd told his troops this, as well, so it wasn't like they hadn't heard. There was no real _reason_ he needed to be wincing while explaining it. "I had a—not a dream, but a—flashback thing—like I knew I wasn't on the _Finalizer_ , because everything was wrong, but I thought I was still a stormtrooper. Poe tried to snap me out of it and I hurt him and BB-8 had to literally shock me back into myself." He shrugged again, because it made him feel a little less uneasy. "So I had Dr. K take me off duty until I could sort it out. But it turns out they don't really want a different leader, so I still train them," he said, smiling fondly. He wasn't sure what he'd do without them—doing nothing would have driven him crazy, sooner rather than later. “And I have intelligence meetings with the General sometimes,” he added. “To tell her what I can about the Order.”

"Oh, Finn," Rey said, with sympathy and not pity, and she took both his hands and squeezed them, and then hugged him. "Have you had any more...dreams like that? I could ask Master Skywalker—" But then, Rey was finding out quickly that the Force couldn't do all she half-expected it to be able to. "I'm sorry." And after a moment: "They do love you, and trust you, I can see it. I know you'll do the right thing by them."

Finn smiled, hugging Rey back before they resumed walking. "Not like that, no. Just—the usual ones. I wake myself up from a nightmare, or Poe does. Dr. K is teaching me how to deal with panic attacks if they happen when I'm awake, which has helped," he added. And, really, there hadn't been much for the ground troops to do lately, mission-wise, so he hadn't missed a lot, yet. "Thanks, Rey," he said, pulling her closer to him for another one-armed hug. "Are you truly doing alright? It's just lack of sleep and annoying droid alarm clocks, and nothing else?" he asked, reasoning it was probably best to ask when she'd expressed concern—he could always claim that her question reminded him that he wanted to ask her the same thing.

"Oh, that's good," she said, squeezing him back, even though he was sweaty, and pulling back to trace her fingers across his face, as if searching for the source of the panic in his eyes. She wished she could look into Finn like Maz had—and Rey could, in her own way. Finn was so open with her. She liked that. "I mean, that Dr. K—Kalonia—is helping. She seemed nice." Rey gave Finn a warm smile. "And yeah, we're all right. I wish we could train somewhere closer so I could—be closer—to you two." She shrugged. "But we visited some exciting places! Looking mainly for kyber crystals, for when I build my lightsaber. Master Luke says they're very hard to find."

"Kyber crystals? Is that where the colors come from? What do they look like? Where do they come from?" Finn asked, distracted from talking about panic attacks and night terrors by talk of light sabers. Most of the stormtroopers he'd ever known had been morbidly fascinated by them—weapons they couldn't hope to fight, wielded by individuals who were nearly impossible to hit with blasters and too dangerous to deal with in closer quarters.

Rey grinned, glad to see the spark return in Finn's eyes. "Well, I think they're like, as big as your thumb, maybe. And they're found in force-sensitive places—caves and stuff—there aren't many of those around anymore, I guess, or we've lost where they were." She shrugged. "Master Luke...I think he got weird being all alone for ten years—" Rey laughed, "And that's coming from someone who's…lived basically alone for about that long. Sorry, that came out sounding sad." She kissed Finn's cheek. "When I find the crystals, I'll make sure you can watch me build it." She finished her water. "Obstacle course?"

"Right there," Finn said, nodding to the outdoor obstacle course. It has the usual things: walls to climb, ropes to crawl under, things to jump over and scramble through, and even a rope wall. It also had numerous platforms. "I'll give you your choice today—obstacles or 'the floor is lava'," he told the soldiers. He wasn't sure why they couldn't come up with a shorter name than 'the floor is lava' but it had stuck. Coni was the first to volunteer, practically jumping up and down in her eagerness to do the parkour course (the proper name for it when soldiers weren't being children).

They had a good time running the parkour-obstacle-floor-is-lava-course, and even Rey went through it twice, because the first time she had gotten confused and messed up. By then they were all starving and filed into the mess hall for an early dinner. "That was great, Finn," she told him. "They're all great. They have a good teacher, clearly." She nudged him with an elbow while she held her tray. "Any word from Poe? Do we get word from him while he's on patrol like this?"

"Not usually, unless there's trouble. I don't, anyway. I'm sure whoever is on duty in the control room right now gets updates, even if they don't find anything," Finn said, eyeing some version soup with unidentifiable ingredients. It smelled good, though, so he shrugged and took a bowl, and some bread to dip in it. "They'll probably be back mid-afternoon or early evening."

Rey nodded. It was hard for her—now that she _had_ friends—to not know where they were every second of every day, but that might be weird, she decided, or possessive, and she didn't voice it. As usual, she got some of everything from the mess, but was getting better about starting with small amounts. "Someday I'll find something I don't like," she laughed, when Jess eyed her still somehow full tray and rolled her eyes, "but it is not this day!" When Finn had his tray, Rey found them a spot across from the row of musicians—pilots, soldiers, and all. "So how were your extra duties today?" Rey asked conversationally, but this was apparently the wrong question to ask.

"Look at me. Do I look like I'm eating to you? Four hours in the kitchens and I never want to eat again," Snap complained.

"Probably be good for you, fatty," Jess said, nudging his belly.

"I'm just big boned!" he wailed, putting his head in his hands. "I'm actually wasting away!"

" _Four whole hours_?" Finn said, his voice mock sympathetic. Poe spent longer than that in the kitchen cooking the Yavinese food for him that one time, though Finn supposed it was different if Poe enjoyed it. "That must have been traumatizing. Four whole hours in the kitchen," he added. "You can commiserate with Poe when he gets back—he cleaned bathrooms this morning," he said.

"Sorry, not to change topic, but _what_ did you do to your soldiers? They're eating like they've never seen food," Jess said, indicating several very quiet soldiers who were indeed inhaling their food. Finn looked over at Rey and grinned.

"We learned about staff fighting today, and then did the obstacle course," he said.

"I hope they _suffered_ ," Snap said, narrowing his eyes.

Rey laughed. "Well, I'm pretty sure I only nearly hurt Finn. The rest of them I could take down more easily—but Finn, I had to—"

Jess grinned knowingly. "It's hard to pull punches with your best friend. Either you go too easy on 'em, or you're fighting to win, and something in the middle is hard. I hope he's not concussed, though?" she said, raising an eyebrow at Finn and the lump on his brow.

"You should see him and Poe spar," Iolo piped up. "They do their crazy-chicken fighting style and Finn even lets Poe win a few times."

"'Crazy chicken style'?" Finn asked, this being the first time he'd heard that phrase. "I don't _let_ him win..." he tried to add, but everyone at the table sort of have him this flat look of complete disbelief, and he blushed, looking down at his plate. "Okay, maybe I let him win _sometimes_..."

Iolo cackled, and Snap nodded. "Yeah, the crazy arm-wavy spinny dancy fighting. I laughed when Poe first showed me, and then he kicked my ass... _by the by_ , remind me not to ever fight either of you two unless I'm in an X-Wing," he said, beginning to pick off of Jess and Iolo's trays.

Rey blushed. "I'm only any good with the staff..."

"Ask Poe to teach you the crazy arm-wavy spiny fancy fighting," Finn suggested, and then laughed. “Which is called capoeira. I bet there's a version of it that uses a staff, too." Noting that Snap was picking off other peoples' food, he subtly slid his own tray closer to him, having filled his plate too full to eat everything.

"Do you know what they put in the stew?" Snap sobbed, but borrowed Finn's spoon to taste it anyway. "I'm so hungry but I don’t _want_ any of this."

Rey giggled, covering her mouth. They were all just so...happy! And playful. She liked that about the Resistance—though apparently, according to Poe, this was how 'normal' people were, and she had not grown up with anything resembling 'normal.'

And apparently sharing food was something that was done here. She offered Snap her juice with a small smile.

Seeming to know what an honor that was, Snap took it and dipped his head gratefully, and she blushed.

"No? But there's some kind of meat, and vegetables, and it tastes good, so I don't know that it matters much to me," Finn said, watching Snap taste the soup. "Except now I'm curious. What _do_ they put in the soup?" he asked. Next to him, Rey was poking hers.

"It's not rodent," she commented, and everyone looked at her.

"You know what rodent tastes like?" Finn asked her.

Rey blushed. "That's...all I ever had on Jakku. I ate horse jerky a few times, when I had a good salvage—" Everyone was looking at her now.

"Well, it's not rodent," Snap said, trying recover from the sudden awkwardness.

"What time are we gonna start playing?" Jess asked.

"We want to wait as long as we can for Poe and Karé," Iolo pointed out. "At least wait until dark."

"Good, I'd like to wash," Rey said. Now that she had the option of being clean, she wanted to be clean as often as possible.

"I call second ‘fresher!" Finn blurted, and Rey looked over at him like he was being dense. "In the event that Poe gets back in time to try to steal it?" he added, and then wished he hadn't, because there was a slow grin stealing across Rey's face, and across Jess's.

"Are we pretending that you two _don't_ bathe together every chance you get, or…?" Jess asked.

Rey laughed. "They already did that this morning," she said, rolling her eyes.

Jess cackled. "I know, their refresher shares a wall with mine."

"We weren't _that_ lou—Force damn it," Finn said as the entire table broke down laughing. "Your room is nowhere _near_ ours!" he practically wailed, which only made everyone laugh harder.

Snap finally took pity on him and patted him on the shoulder before saying, "Alright, alright, leave him alone. Who wants to know what's actually in the soup?"

"Nicely played," Iolo said, giving Jess a high five.

"They put _lard_ in the soup!" Snap said, sounding horrified.

"You do know that's like _the_ primary ingredient in Poe's empandas, right?" Jess said, and Snap groaned.

Rey didn't know what lard was, but she giggled.

"Oh, that's why it tastes good!" Finn said—the soup had been good, though he hadn't been able to finish it. "C'mon, Snap, it's just fat," Finn said when Snap continued to look horrified. "It's why the crust on the empanadas is so good. Anyway, that's what he said when he told me how to make them," he added, but this clearly wasn't helping, because Snap was only looking more miserable.

"I should have traded Poe duties—whatever you guys said about it," he whined, and Jess patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.

"Wait, he _taught_ you how to make them, you say?" Iolo said, leaning in close and making Finn recoil against Rey, who laughed as she nibbled on something green from her plate. Since they seemed so...embroiled, she didn't want to interrupt.

"No? Sort of? I asked him how he made them, and he told me. But I don't think I'd be able to make them without him," Finn said, very aware that he was being watched like some small prey animal.

"Well, so you _need_ to make them with him sometime," Jess said, and they continued to chatter happily for a long time—until it was already getting dark, and they started up, as if surprised, when one of the younger pilots (who had been stuck on weapons cleaning) asked if they were ever going to go jam and hadn't Poe and Karé got back yet?

"I still want to get in the ‘fresher," Rey said, "And I think we need instruments, right?" Finn nodded, standing up and looking around at the others. "Fifteen minutes?" he asked.  He could skip a ‘fresher, but they did definitely need instruments. There were nods all around as people got up to hurry back to their rooms. Finn turned to the young pilot who'd asked about Karé and Poe.  "They'll be back later, we're bringing Poe's quetarra with us when we come back."

Rey and Finn nodded and made their way quickly back to the room. "Has he been gone a long while?" she asked Finn, slipping into the refresher but leaving the door partially open so they could continue to talk. She had no idea how long a "patrol" lasted, but he had been gone all day. She was quick in the refresher, just rinsing off and not bothering with all of Poe's strange bathing products this time, and leaving her hair up.

"Oh, is that the—quetarra?" she asked, pointing at the case as she came out. "Where do we do this jam thing?"

"Yeah, this is it. Just back to the mess hall. Sometimes we go outside, since it's usually nice out," Finn said, taking Rey's hand and swinging it happily as they walked. They passed several other people who turned around and went back toward the mess hall when they realized there was going to be music, and Finn smiled. "Okay—so Poe plays this thing, and there are drums, and Jess and some others have flutes, and everyone sings, even if they can't really sing," Finn said, just about bouncing on his toes in excitement.  He loved music—had yet to find any that he didn't like—and he thought there was a good chance Rey would find it equally amazing. Plus, Poe would eventually show up and sing and play, which always made Finn melt a little. Or a lot.

Rey beamed, loving how excited Finn was. "It sounds brilliant!" she said. "I think Chewie played me some music—we found some of...Han's. Chewbacca likes to listen to it when he misses him. Oh! We should check in the _Falcon_ for him, come on! I'm sure he'd love to listen." The Wookiee seemed so lonely these days, and the only thing that made him happy any more was tinkering with the _Millennium Falcon_. Luke, however—Rey was sure Luke still _preferred_ being alone.

"He should come eat with us. Or play chess? If he wants to. Would he want to?" Finn asked as they walked to the hangar where the Falcon was docked. "Can you imagine if we convinced _him_ to spar with the soldiers?" It would probably be amazing, but someone would also probably end up broken, unless Chewie minded taking it easy on them. Finn wasn't even sure the Wookiee would _want_ to spar.

Rey laughed. "We could ask him," she said, and in fact Chewbacca took very little convincing to come join them, loping happily along behind.

Rey was surprised how many people were there, gathered around the lanterns for warmth and light. There was some alcohol being passed around, which Rey tasted only once. When the music started up it seemed a bit piecemeal and haphazard, but it was nice to listen to. She sat on the grass close to Finn, guarding Poe's instrument between them as the music started.


	4. Chapter 4

Poe and Karé landed a few hours before midnight, which was somewhere around Galactic Standard 2334 on D'Qar (which always confused Poe), so they made their way into Control at around 2147.

"I'll meet you there, Karé. I'm going to go ream the General for working so late," Poe said, patting the small of her back as he walked up behind Leia and coughed.

"Nice of you to make it home," she said. "Any trouble?"

"None, ma'am. We even tried stirring some up: why we're late. Permission to speak freely?"

"Denied."

"Why are you still working?" Poe asked anyway, grinning.

She glared at him. There were only two techs working quietly, but it still felt very formal and stiff, in spite of Dameron's Problem With Authority showing. It was a good thing it was such a good look on him.

"If you had managed to get in on time."

"Aw, Ma, you don't have to wait up for—"

Leia shook her head.

"Too far?" Poe winced. "Too far." He straightened up again. "General, would you come down to the jam session with me?"

She looked shocked.

"Just for a few minutes," Poe said, stepping closer and lowering his voice. "I…look, I don't presume to know what you're going through, and I don’t know where your brother is now, but when I find it hard to sleep I know company helps."

Leia pressed her lips together. "A few minutes," she finally said, and Poe brightened and offered her his arm. "As long as this doesn't look like fraternizing," she said, as she took it.

Poe snorted. "Look, General, I _know_ fraterniz...I mean _gosh no_ , what kind of _cad_ do you take me for?" He winked. "Anyway I'm practically married, and so are you," he said. "This is purely platonic—er—or political, if you prefer."

"How about 'companionate'?" she suggested, and Poe's heart swelled to the point of instantly having to blink tears away.

"I would be honored."

…

Chewie, as it turned out, had a pretty good sense of pitch. He could also be surprisingly quiet while humming, contrary to most of his conversations with…everyone. He sat on Rey's other side, making the occasional comment.

"Hey! Finn! Want to get over here and do some drumming?" Snap asked, and Finn laughed, shaking his head.

"Nah, you go ahead. I'm on guard duty until Poe gets back," he replied, nodding over to Poe's quetarra. Snap shook his head, but went back to playing drums with Iolo. Eventually, the others realized they knew the song, or could improvise parts around it, and joined in. Finn looked over at Rey and smiled—this was his favorite part of jam night, when it happened.

There was a lull in music as Poe and Leia made their way to the circle of light, but not a lull in chit-chat and conversation, and because it was dark all around them and bright near the group, no one saw or heard their slow approach. Poe had spotted Finn and Rey, and was steering her toward them, when she stopped him just outside the ring of light.

"Uh. General?"

"You sing tenor, right?"

"Uhh—yeah—?" Poe said, heart fluttering with mingled concern and excitement, and then she just started singing without waiting or telling him what to expect. He liked that about her.  

She took a few verses to get her volume up, until Poe recognized the song and jumped in, but when she did, the gathering fell instantly silent. Poe took a few more verses to find the correct key to harmonize with her in, but when he did, it sounded—well—better than he could ever have sung on his own, even though he was singing high and hadn't warmed up yet. She had the voice of someone who could have sung professionally when she was younger, and her voice was worn with age and tinged with sadness he hoped he would never know, and it hurt in the way that beautiful things hurt.

"Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air  
and feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way.  
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.  
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,  
from up and down, and still somehow  
it's cloud illusions I recall.  
I really don't know clouds at all."

"Whoa what—" Finn said, whirling so fast when he heard Poe singing with— _the General?!_ —that he bumped the quetarra and knocked the case over—luckily, since it was already on its side, it didn't have far to fall. He heard an inquiring sort of sound from Chewie, which matched his own surprise. "Yeah, that's who you think it is," he said over his shoulder. They were singing a beautiful, sad song that made Finn want to hug both of them.

"I've looked at life from both sides now,  
from win and lose, and still somehow  
it's life's illusions I recall.  
I really don't know life at all."

When they finished, there was a startled sort of silence—the pilots and soldiers were torn between scrambling to their feet with an "Officer on deck!" and just _applauding_. No one had ever heard General Leia Organa _sing_ before.

"A little off-key there, Dameron," the General finally said, and Poe laughed, and the assembly laughed, too, giving him a chance to wipe his eyes before stepping into the light. "At ease," she told one cadet who attempted to rise to attention, as Poe led her to sit in Chewie's lap before he found Finn and Rey's arms. “I’m here in an unofficial capacity.”

"Miss me?" Poe asked Rey and Finn with a soft smile, still dazed by the song.

While the gathered crowd pretended not to notice that Chewie was holding Leia like she was a small child and Leia was absolutely okay with it, Finn and Rey held Poe and peppered kisses on his cheeks—except Finn, who managed to sneak in a few real kisses.

"Mm, mm, mm," Poe said, finally laughing into the kisses as they went into the twenties. "Ah! Ah that tickles," he said, having helplessly fallen back between them as they attacked, in spite of his attempts to kiss back. "Okay, okay, good, I missed you too."

"You guys are disgusting," Snap growled.

"Jealous much?" Poe asked, kicking his feet happily from where he was trapped between them and practically being smothered. He cupped Rey's chin and then Finn's, and smiled. "What'd you guys do today?" he asked.

"Seriously, Dameron, are we jamming or watching _Amar en Tiempos de la Antigua República_?" Jess said, rapping his thigh sharply with her flute.

"Ow!" he cried, snapping up to rub the offended leg.

Finn laughed, pushing Poe to his feet and handing him the quetarra. "I told Rey you're really good at quetarra. No pressure," he said.

" _Finally_ ," Snap said, loudly, and yanked Poe over to join the musicians. "Let's play something loud and _not_ sad—I mean—" he paused, realizing he wasn't just teasing Poe with that one. "Begging your pardon, General," he mumbled, and she waved from where she was sitting and leaning on Chewie's shoulder.

"Okay! Time for music," Finn said, covering up for any awkwardness by being a little awkwardly loud.

Poe whined as he was dragged out of the kissing-cuddle-pile, but obliged by leading them in a round of "Roar"—one they all knew well, and everyone could sing the chorus:

"I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire  
'Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar  
Louder, louder than a lion  
'Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh  
You're gonna hear me roar!"

That settled them all, as everyone got to join in, and a few more tunes were shouted out which Poe had to scramble to keep up with. When he was in jam sessions, he insisted on set lists when it got like this, as it kept everyone from bickering, and they _stuck_ to the set list, even if it meant Poe had to play through four moderately hard songs before he got to one he didn't know and could slide across the grass back to sit with Finn and Rey, laying his quetarra on his knees before giving Finn a proper kiss and Rey a proper hug. "Having fun?" he asked them, scooting a bit behind them so they could all see each other and talk comfortably.

Rey grinned ear to ear. "I love it! Finn's right, music is—just—the best! I wish I could sing along!"

"You should! You can! You'll learn the words eventually. Or just sing whatever. I don't remember the words half the time either," he admitted, laying a hand on Finn's leg and giving his thigh a squeeze.

"Yeah, I sing non-words all the time," Finn said, putting his hand over Poe's and lacing their fingers together. "Hey, Rey, you should hear the dancing music, too! It's pretty—and Poe knows how to dance. I sort of do too. We could teach you...I imagine a Jedi could be quite good at dancing," Finn suggested.

"Someone should probably inform Luke," the General said, smiling softly. "Han tried to teach him when we were younger. He tried several times, I think." Finn looked over, not sure how he was supposed to react to the mention of Han Solo. Chewie saved him from continuing to wonder by laughing, which evoked an answering laugh from Leia, even if it was a slightly sad laugh. "He never was very good," she added, still smiling.

Poe huffed, pulling Finn and Rey into his arms. Hearing about Han made him feel grateful that he still had Finn, and Rey, and it made him feel fiercely protective, not wanting to let them go.

It also made him happy: it was a good step that Leia was talking about Han, and it was so good to see her relaxed and smiling, and Chewie was just precious. It made his throat tight, and he had to clear it carefully before picking up his quetarra and singing on the next song.

They stayed out well past D'Qar midnight, as well as galactic standard midnight, and though Poe protested as Karé and some of the soldiers stood up to go, as he rolled his shoulders and stretched his back he was hit with a rush of dizziness. _Oh_ , he had been awake for 22 hours at this point, and going nonstop through all of it.

"Maybe we should go...to bed," he slurred slightly.

"Whoa, hey, don't fall over," Finn said fondly, pulling Poe closer to him with his arm around his waist. Rey said a few quiet words to Chewie, stood on her toes to give him a hug, and joined Finn and Poe. She sidled up to them and took Poe's arm, resting her head briefly on his shoulder.

"Poe, did you know about Han and Chewie's music collection?  I... wasn't really expecting it," she said.

"Wait, where's my—quetar—" Poe protested as he was led away, but the case was somehow, miraculously, in Finn's hand. "Oh," he said. "Um. I assumed he had some. What kind of music was it?" he asked. "Like, what did it sound like?" he asked, struggling to think of a way to express himself to someone who had no concept of genre.

Rey scrunched up her nose. "Well, like your quetarra. With a, um, a sort of—more nasally voice?"

Poe nodded. "Country. Of _course_ Han Solo would like _country_." He laughed. "Hey, wanna come with me to get a few tattoos tomorrow, guys?" he said, brain jumping around in an attempt to stay awake.

"Um...sure? As long as I don't have to get one," Finn said, "More names?" he asked gently, following Poe's train of thought. Rey, who had seen Poe's tattoos but not for long enough to know what they were, looked between the two of them.

"Names?" she asked, hesitantly. Finn's tone had implied that it might be an uncomfortable subject.

"Yeah I haven't got Han’s yet. Or Ello’s, or—" but Poe broke off, frowning. They had lost a lot of pilots over Starkiller Base. He’d had time to grieve for his pilots and his sometime “uncle,” but their memory still stung.

Poe didn’t have time to dwell, as he was startled to find them suddenly back at their room. "Time for bed," he said, collapsing sideways and bouncing slightly on the mattress.

"Poe!" Rey giggled. "Wait, you can't sleep yet. I'll get his shoe. Poe, it's not _that_ late."

Poe hummed and laughed, eyes half-lidded as he wrestled with Rey and his boots. Well, boot. "Careful, that one's stuck on," he reminded her about the cast. "Finn, _stop_ , I can undress myself," he said, batting at Finn's hands as he tugged at his flightsuit. "Oh gods, wait, why am I stopping you?" he laughed.

"You're a disaster," Finn said, smiling, as he tried to wrestle Poe's shirt off of him. "Would you stop—Poe—okay, stop doing that thing with your arm—what are you even doing?" he said, becoming increasingly amused as Poe continued to make it as difficult as possible to remove his shirt. By the time Finn got it off, he and Rey both had the giggles, and barely managed to get into their own sleeping clothes without falling over. They climbed into bed on either side of Poe, and Finn poked him in the side. "Roll over. Rey wants to see your tattoos," he said.

"Oh, wait, you stink," Rey said, realizing that Man Smell really bothered her when it had been stewing in the same clothes for all day—she hadn't liked the way Finn smelled when she first met him, either, frankly. And if she was going to be sharing a bed with them...Rey crawled over Poe and over Finn and marched into the bathroom to soak a small towel in hot water. "Hold still, close your eyes," she told Poe when she returned.

"Hey, _hey_ —" Poe began, but the rest of his protest was muffled by cloth, warm and wet and scrubbing at his face and then his neck and under his arms. This was either reminding him of being small and his mother doing this for him before bed—or it was really erotic. Either way, it was probably inappropriate, and he pushed those thoughts away as he opened his eyes to find Rey holding his arm up above his head. "He's got them on his arms, too?" she asked Finn, and together they tried to shove him over.

"I can do it!" Poe grumbled, scrabbling at the blankets to get up, but allowing them to help. He felt somewhat more complacent after the scrub-down, actually, and let them do most of the work. Being clean was good. And Rey and Finn smelled so nice...

"Oh, wow! How does that even happen? Did someone draw on him?" Rey said, reaching out tentatively to touch the lines. When Poe didn't seem to mind, even gave a soft hum of delight, she began tracing her fingers over the lines of the X-wing, and the BB-8 markings, and the part that looked like his helmet. "That's—I’ve never seen any—how is it done?" she asked Finn.

"Something to do with needles and ink," Finn answered, shrugging, "I'm not sure about the specifics. Poe could tell you, but I'm pretty sure he's half asleep. Are you half asleep?" he asked, touching Poe gently on the shoulder.

"You'll see tomorrow," Poe mumbled into the pillow. "I mean, yes. And if you come with me you can watch." He rubbed a hand over his face—a dead-giveaway that he was tired. "Love you guys," he said after a minute, sighing into the whispers and little touches across his back and shoulders. "You can just—keep—" he said, or was about to say, and then he was out.

Rey covered her mouth to bite back a giggle, giving Poe's back a gentle scratch (half because he seemed to like it, and half to see if it would ruin the designs, but it didn't), and before crawling back to her place by the wall she tossed the dirty towel into the hamper. "Do you want me to get you a wet washcloth while I'm up?" she said, and then smiled. "It's only fair if I put you through the same treatment." She wasn't entirely clear on what flirting was, exactly, or why Finn and Poe seemed to like it so much, but she thought that taking care of these boys was something close, some version of it she could 100% get behind.

"I won't object—but I don't mind taking a ‘fresher, if you're tired and just want to sleep," Finn offered, giving Rey an out if she wanted it, even if it meant getting into the refresher when really, he just wanted to curl up with both of the people he loved and sleep.

Rey smiled and returned with a warm towel, scrubbing his face and chest as she did with Poe, though Finn's underarms proved tricky since he was so ticklish, and she laughed and squeaked quietly. "Stop, hold still! You'll wake Poe!" She hissed, finally handing him the cloth to do himself and crawling over both of them to get on her side of the bed.

Finn tossed his washcloth to join the other and snuggled down next to Poe, slotting perfectly to his side. Since Rey was on the other side, he draped an arm over Poe's back and rested his hand on her side with a sleepy smile. He sighed, stirring the curly hair near Poe's ear, and let his eyes drift shut. "Hey Rey? Love you," he said softly—so softly she could pretend she hadn't heard him, if she wanted to do so.

Rey smiled into her pillow, leaning into Finn's touch. "I love you, too, Finn," she said, resting her hand atop Finn's hand and threading their fingers together. She yawned, suddenly struck by how tired she was. "Good night." It was so nice to say these things—to have someone to say them to. "Good night, Poe. Good night, BB-8." Rey would have wished everyone in the base a good night if she could.

Poe replied with a soft snore, but BB-8 hooted a quiet good night in return. "Love you," Rey said, and was sound asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

He awoke with a start and a muffled _thunk_ , rolling right off the edge of the bed and hitting the floor hard enough to jar him from a deep sleep. It was dark, so dark he couldn't see anything, and he had...no idea where he was. For the moment, he kept quiet, because his bunkmates would not appreciate being awakened, and climbed slowly to his feet. There was a soft glow coming from the other side of the bed, and two people in it—that wasn't normal. He made a confused, annoyed sound and tried to decide what he was supposed to do. Was this a test? Was he supposed to do something specific? Had they drugged him and left him here to see what he would do?

He turned, eyes searching the darkness for some indication of where he was, or what was going on, or why—wait, why were the people in the bed familiar? Why did this make _no sense_?

Poe had been sleeping _hard_ , he knew, because even though he jolted at the loud _thunk_ and didn't know what it was, he didn't open his eyes immediately and tried to go back to sleep. He was just so tired and his foot hurt and Finn was here that's all that—

Except, no. This was Rey. There were supposed to be _two_ people in his bed.

"Finn?" he mumbled, hand pawing at the warm spot he had left. Maybe he was just using the can.

Somehow, Poe didn't think that was what this was, and the hair stood up on his arms and the back of his neck. "Finn?" he said again, blinking into the darkness. A shadow moved in the corner of the room, and all Poe could see was the glint of Finn's eyes. He could hear his heavy breathing. A panic attack?

Or worse?

Poe sat up, swinging his legs over the bed, making the Finn-shadow flinch. "Easy. Easy, buddy, you all right? You with me?"

"Poe?" came a murmur from behind him. "Where's Finn? Come back to sleep..."

 _Shit_. Rey didn't know about this, she wouldn't know what to do.  _Finn might hurt her._

"Shh," Poe told her. He didn't know why. It wasn't like she would sleep through this. "Buh—Bee?" he stammered, and BB-8 awoke with a curious blip, scanning the room and surprised to find Friend-Finn standing so close to them. [Bee, lock the door please] he tapped out in binary.

"Poe?" Rey sat up, worried now.

"Stay back," he whispered, and then, louder. "Finn, do you know where you are?" Poe said in an even, loud voice.

No response. Finn looked twitchy, and now Poe could see the sweat standing out on his face and neck.

"Finn, I need you to tell me what you see in this room." When Finn flinched towards him, looking almost like he might attack, in a panic Poe lurched to his feet and shouted: "STAND AT ATTENTION WHEN I ADDRESS YOU!"

And Poe felt like dying when Finn actually _did_ straighten up and stand stock-still, feet together and hands by his sides.

Rey gasped and recoiled. Poe agreed. It was…horrible.

Until he knew what was going on, he was going to assume that anyone using that tone of voice on him was, in fact, his superior. Following orders was safer.

He was catching bits and snatches of familiarity, other than the two people in the bed. The little round droid who whistled quietly was familiar, and when the lights brightened just enough to see, the room seemed familiar too. And they weren't a frightening sort of familiar—for some reason, he had...positive associations with this place. It was enough to keep him from immediately reacting, anyway, and he kept a wary eye on the man who'd just told him to stand at attention, waiting for some version of an explanation, or for his memory to provide him something more helpful than vague impressions.

Oh no, this was _working_. Poe felt like the worst scum of the earth using this against Finn. He gulped, since Finn seemed to be waiting. Dr. Kalonia had said something about grounding. Something different. "What is that droid's designation?" he demanded, careful to keep his voice at the same register from before, though all he wanted to do was weep. He would beg forgiveness later, when Finn was back and they were all safe. "And who is this girl?"

"Poe, what—" Rey started to ask, but something in Poe's eyes told her to not interfere. Instead she made sure Finn could see her face even as she shrank away from his stare: he looked confused and blank at once, almost like he was blind. "Finn," she whispered, realizing she was shaking so hard she made the bed rattle. Oh, Force, no, that was _Poe_ shaking.

"BB-8?" That seemed right. He knew that, from somewhere. He looked closely at the girl and shook his head. He didn't know. Was that the wrong answer? "She—she’s a...pilot?" he asked, trying not to recoil from the inevitable punishment for not being able to answer that, but maybe failing a little bit.

Maker, Finn didn’t even know who _Rey_ was. "Tell me where you are!" Poe said, voice on the edge of desperation, the façade about to crack any second.

"I don't...I don't know. Where I am. Sir." He hoped maybe that would mollify the one asking him questions—he seemed nice enough, in spite of the shouting, so maybe it would work.

'Sir,' he had said.

'Sir.'

Poe felt sick, the small burst of hope at BB-8's name crushed into the pit of his stomach like a punch. _'Sir'..._

"Finn, _stop_ ," he said, losing his nerve, all of it. "Don't call me that. You know my name. You know _your_ name, please—buddy—" His voice cracked as he took a step forward, hands out.

"Finn?" he asked, stepping back. The name was familiar. This clearly wasn't the First Order, which made sense. He looked over at the little droid, somewhat distressed that he could only remember that name, though... _Finn_. He remembered this man calling him that—and the woman too. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I know—I know _something_ , but I can't remember. BB-8?" he said plaintively at the little droid, as if they could help him remember.

"Yeah, yeah, that's it," Poe said, forcing a smile. BB-8, either stupid or brave, gave their signature nod and rolled closer, bumping Finn's ankle gently before recoiling, in case it didn't work out.

"I-it's okay that you don't remember, buddy. It'll—it’ll come back—" Poe wracked his brain for something that would jog his memory. It seemed random, that BB-8 he knew but Finn couldn't name Rey or even _him_. He cast about the room, eyes lighting on the case for his quetarra. "Music! You remember tonight, we had our jam session? We sang—we sang a song—I was singing to you and everyone was teasing me—teasing us—" And when he sang this time, he was horribly off-key and his voice squeaked as he lost a few of the notes, but it was a _song_ and Finn liked songs:

"Show me what it's like  
To be the last one standing  
And teach me wrong from right  
And I'll show you what I can be—"

And there it was, like a light had gone on: recognition, maybe, or else he had settled fully into FN-2187 and Poe was going to die singing, but at least he wasn't going to die singing off-key:

"Say it for me, say it to me  
And I'll leave this life behind me  
Say it if it's worth saving me."

Oh. _Oh_.  He knew that song—he’d sat there, grinning, while Poe—Poe!—had sung it to him.  And then he'd included the woman—Rey—and—

"Poe! That's your name. That's Rey. What's..." He shook his head, trying to rattle his thoughts back into place, slowly coming back to himself. "Poe? Why am I...I don't understand," he said, shakily, deflating a little. He remembered where he was, even if there were ghosts on the edge of his vision of what he'd thought. "Something's wrong. With me."

"No, no, nothing's wrong," Poe said, feeling like every time he pulled Finn back from the ledge the ground crumbled more underneath them. "Nothing's wrong. You're fine. You're here, you're in the room you share with me and Bee and Rey and you're okay." Another step forward. Finn still looked coiled, tight, ready to pounce, and Poe wasn't positive that he wasn't trying to reason with a rock-lion. "We want you to come back to bed, _please_ , Finn. Finn—" But Finn took a step back away from him. Was he losing him? He was losing him, so Poe sang again, the next verse that came to mind:

"Heaven's gates won't open up for me  
With these broken wings I'm fallin'  
And all I see is y-you—"

Finn closed his eyes, listening to Poe's beautiful—still frightened—voice, and crumpled. He gasped and almost fell but instead took a step forward, grabbing for Poe's arms to ground himself, like a lifeline to bring him back the rest of the way.

But Poe flinched, like he had back on the _Finalizer_ , and Finn gasped and loosened his grip.

For a split-second, Poe was the one caught in a flashback, was back on the _Finalizer_ , and a nameless stormtrooper had just taken off his helmet and Poe was still processing what he was saying about a rescue through the clawing fear of death or further interrogation or torture or Kylo Ren—

"No! Poe, I—don’t—I'm sorry. Please, Poe? I'm sorry I scared you," Finn said, and he sounded _gutted_ , and it wrenched Poe back into his room— _Only one flashback per bunk per evening, thank you_ —

"Finn," Poe said, desperate, his voice thick with fear or giddy laughter or a sob. "Finn, you didn't scare me, buddy, I'm okay. Are—are you okay?" He wanted to pat him down, to embrace him, but Finn was still holding onto his arms and he didn't want to lose that contact, so he stepped closer, uncurling his fists. "Finn, you with me now, love? Darling, Finnegan, my Finno?" Oh Force he was going to cry he was going to lose it _don't do it you'll make him feel worse_!

"I thought that wasn't going to happen again," Finn said, his voice cracking, fingers digging into Poe’s arms. "I thought it was supposed to stop. Why won’t it stop?" he added. This time, it'd happened in front of Rey, and he'd probably terrified her. "There wasn't even an alarm this time," he said quietly.

"B-but—you’re okay now!" Poe said, giving Finn a hopeful grin from somewhere. "You snapped out of it. You came _back_ and Bee didn't have to tase you this time or anything." It was a terrible joke, and he realized he was shaking. "Finn, I—I’m sorry, I—I—" he was halfway through the confession before he knew it, and wasn't sure if he should or could stop, "I called you—I treated you like a stormtrooper, and I'm so sorry. I—ordered you, and it _worked_ , I'm sorry, I probably made it worse—" Oh Maker he was crying now, actually crying, in front of Finn after Finn had been through all of that. He tried to pull his hands up to cover his face, but Finn was holding him tight.

"It's okay, it's alright. You did…you did what you had to do," Finn said, pulling Poe close to him and hugging him. He wasn't sure who was supporting whom, but he was maybe leaning on Poe a little heavily.

"It's _not_ okay, it's—" Poe shuddered, wrapping his arms around Finn's shoulders and just crushing him against his chest and sobbing into his hair. "I'm sorry. I—I think you fell out of bed, and I—I thought you were gonna—so I—" but he couldn't say it. _You called me 'Sir.'_ "I hate the First Order and everything they did to you,” Poe growled. “Force damn it, you're _mine_ ," he said, shaking with rage now on top of the fear and the adrenaline crash. Finn was warm and solid and real and _hugging_ him and Poe had been sure Finn was going to _kill_ him thirty seconds ago. "Finn," he said, and said his name over and over. "Oh, Finn. Thank you for coming back to me."

A third hand startled Poe, but oh yeah, Rey was here, too, and she slipped her arms around both of them, giving each of them a kiss. "Let's try to do this in bed before you both fall over," she said quietly, and they loosened their holds but didn't let go as Rey guided them to sit. Pulling back, Poe saw that Finn was crying, too, and he swiped his thumb across his cheek. Two bottles of water appeared in front of them, and the instructions to drink were not orders but not suggestions, either, and they were too tired to argue.

There were still tears tracking down Finn's cheeks as he took a sip of the water. This was supposed to stop happening. Until it stopped happening, he couldn't go in the field again. "Thanks for bringing me back," he said, and started as Rey put a hand on his knee.

Poe gulped the water the second he tasted it, and he wondered if he wasn't shaky because he didn't remember whether he had had dinner, or lunch for that matter. Breakfast was only an hour away, if they wanted to stay up, but Poe definitely did not want any of them to go out looking like this. "Any time, love. _Every_ time," Poe promised, kissing Finn's hair and winding both arms around him.

Finn was so frustrated he wanted to cry—was already crying—and he turned to bury his face in Poe's shoulder again, pulling Rey's hand over to hold between both of his.

BB-8 got up the courage to bump Finn's leg again, hooting softly, and Poe had an idea: "Hey, BB-8, you think you could play some music while we sleep? Like, soft music, low volume."

Glad to be helpful, BB-8 did a little dance and immediately flicked through their selections to try something out. It was a slow melody, and soft, so that if they moved or spoke it could no longer be heard.

"There, how about that? We listen to that all night, and you wake up, you know just where you are because there's music. And—BB-8’s voice doesn't crack when they're nervous," he said sheepishly.

"But when will _they_ sleep?" Finn asked, reaching over and petting BB-8's dome affectionately. The music was already making him sleepy, and he just...really wanted Poe to keep hugging him. When Rey inched closer and put her arms around him from the other side, he melted, relaxing into their arms. He wanted both of them to keep hugging him.

"I could just stop sleeping," he joked, but if fell flat. "Won't the music keep you up?" he asked sleepily. Both times, now, that this had happened, he'd been left worn out, tired in every possible way. It was similar to the panic attacks, but...definitely worse.

"BB-8 just needs to recharge, buddy, they can do it while playing us some music," Poe said, rubbing Finn's arm and, once Finn had settled, turned his fingernails to the insides of Finn's forearms, which he offered up readily, adorably, head still resting against Poe's shoulder.

"Music won't bother you, will it, Rey?"

Rey shrugged. "I'm sure it won't," she said, and though Poe wasn't sure it wouldn't keep him awake, it would certainly disturb his sleep _less_ than Finn having another episode.

"Okay, shove over, sweetheart. You go in the middle this time," he said, kissing Finn and gentling him as he laid him down.

"I'll sleep on the edge," Rey offered, but Poe shook his head:

"No. Finn needs both of us," he said firmly. "You there, I'm on the edge." It wasn't like anything in their room or on base was going to _get_ them, but Poe was feeling wildly, obsessively protective, and he wanted both Finn and Rey where he could hold them and defend them both. He blamed it on exhaustion and stress.

"Okay, okay," Rey said softly. "Do you need anything?"

"For you to get into bed and help me hold Finn." Okay, he was bossy when exhausted and stressed, too, but Rey didn't seem to mind, planting a kiss he didn't deserve on a tear-track before she curled around Finn, kissing him, too.

Finn was reluctant to let himself fall asleep, even if he was curled safely between Poe and Rey.  He shifted, trying intentionally to make himself uncomfortable enough to stay awake for a little longer.

" _Stop_ that, you're worse than I am," Poe said, rolling Finn to one side and spooning along his back, sliding close and tucking his knees behind Finn's so that every possible inch of them was touching. Rey giggled and curled up against Finn, laying an arm over his side and hooking her fingers loosely in Poe's trousers.

"There we are," she said. "Try to forget where you are _now_."

Poe wound his arms around both of them this way, and after giving Finn as many arm scratches as he could stay awake for, Poe tucked his hand against Rey's side, his arm draped protectively over Finn.

"I love you, Finn," he said, pressing kisses into the back of his neck. " _My_ Finn. Love you so much."

Rey was whispering something to Finn, too, that Poe couldn't hear and didn't need to. Force, he was tired. "I love all of you," Rey said, raising her voice to include BB-8, too.

Poe smiled. "Love you more," he said, and gave them a fierce squeeze, and he was out.


	6. Chapter 6

It was late by the time Finn woke up, and he stayed where he was, sleepy and tucked close between Rey and Poe, as he'd been when he fell back to sleep early this morning. He listened to Poe's soft breaths behind him, and watched Rey's face, utterly relaxed as she slept on, unaware he was watching her. It made him smile involuntarily, the fact that she was so content sleeping this close to both of them, her arm thrown over his waist and probably touching Poe. It made his heart ache, how much he loved the two of them.

Poe managed to sleep solidly through the morning, dreamless and in spite of the music, with Finn and Rey bundled into his arms like a hen with her chicks. He woke only when Finn shifted, and he squeezed him tighter, briefly, almost startling, and moaned softly as he opened his eyes.

"Hey," he whispered blearily. "How you feeling?" Poe kissed Finn's shoulder, stretching his legs slightly but not letting either of them go.

"Kind of tired," Finn answered, snuggling closer to Poe when he stretched. "But I'm okay," he added. Rey, hearing them talk quietly, opened her eyes and blinked at him, then smiled, turning her head to the pillow and yawning.

"Time is it?" she asked, and BB-8's music stopped as they chirped the time. Finn raised his eyebrows, and so did Rey. "We slept late. You alright? Both of you?" she asked, and Finn nodded, smiling as she rolled a little closer and kissed first his forehead, then Poe's.

"Yeah, come on, we should get up," Poe said, hitting the pillow as he pushed himself up. The sooner they could have last night over and behind them the better (and it was always when he was half-awake that his own nightmares tended to surface, and Poe couldn't have that). He swung his feet over the bed and his stomach rumbled. "Oh Maker I think I am literally dying of hunger," he said, deciding he had definitely skipped dinner last night and possibly lunch, too. "Literally actually definitely dying," he insisted playfully when Rey—who knew actual starvation—scoffed. "Let's get breakfast. Who wants to ‘fresher with me? I think we could fit all three of us, you know, _really_ give the pilots something to talk about," he suggested with a wink.

Rey threw a pillow at him. "I washed last night. You two go, and keep it down this time," she said, tugging another pillow out from under Finn and covering her ears with it.

Finn reached over to steal the pillow back just long enough to kiss Rey on the cheek. Then he dropped it back over her head and grinned as she wound herself back into the blankets and burrowed into the pillows like a small creature preparing to hibernate. "Refresher?" he asked Poe, throwing his arm around his shoulders.

"Refresher," Poe agreed with a soft smile, leading Finn into the bathroom and shutting the door before he pressed him against it and kissed him, a bit possessively. "Sorry," he said, tears stinging his eyes even though he thought he'd gotten over it. "I just—" _I was so scared_ , he didn't say. "I'm just going to be really—clingy and needy today, okay? D-don't leave me for a second, I mean it. Please?"

"I'll do my best," Finn said, bringing his hands to rub softly up and down Poe's arms. He leaned forward and kissed him back, moving slowly and keeping the kiss gentle and just a little bit needy.  "It's okay. I'm here, right here, all of me present and accounted for." He knew it really upset Poe when he forgot who he was, and for some weird reason (okay, maybe not so weird) reassuring him that everything was alright was as helpful to him as it seemed to be to Poe.

Poe kissed him again, and crushed Finn into a hug. "I know, I know you are. I'm sorry, I _know_ ," he said, pulling back and smiling as he cupped Finn's face with his hands. "It's—it’s in your eyes. I know where you are by your eyes. Your _beautiful_ eyes." He swallowed, and then took a deep breath. "Okay, okay. Refresher." Poe shook himself, putting on his happiest, most carefree demeanor: "And I mean—okay, objectively, that was _better_ , right. You came back and it's all fine. Turns out I'm the big hero and my singing voice should be weaponized against the First Order, am I right?" he laughed, helping Finn undress before also stripping and stepping into the refresher with him.

"Yeah. We'll add it to the list with nice mattresses and...whatever else was on the list." Finn sighed as he stepped under the warm water, closing his eyes and letting the warm water run down his face. Then he turned around and blinked the water out of his eyes to look at Poe. "Come here," he said, smiling as he took Poe's hand and pulled him closer.

Poe pressed their bodies flush together as he wrapped his arms around Finn. "I'm here," he whispered. "I'm yours." He pressed their lips together, briefly, and then rested their foreheads together. "And you're mine. And I'm never giving up on you, not ever."

"Mmmm, good. That's the best plan," Finn said, melting happily against Poe's chest. "How long can we stay here before Rey assumes we've drowned?" he asked, smiling crookedly and running a hand through Poe's curly hair.

"Hmm, if you start making whimpering noises and I start grunting and hitting the side of the fresher shouting 'oh kriff yes you feel so good' at the top of my lungs she might leave us alone all morning." Poe grinned, kissing Finn's neck. "But here, let me wash you," he said, already lathering up the sponge to take extra special care of his beloved.

Finn laughed, stepping out of the water's spray so the soap wouldn't wash off as soon as it was on him. He put his hands under Poe's elbows and shifted them both a little further away from the water, then switched his arms to rest palm up on top of Poe's arms. He smiled shyly, practically begging for Poe to scratch his arms.

Poe laughed, like spring after winter. "You just wait. You get arm scratches after I wash you, if you're good," he purred, kissing him before scrubbing him head to—well—knees. Never again with the feet. And if he took care to wash between his legs thoroughly (who knew what they might get up to later, hm?) he did drop the sponge and run his fingernails up and down Finn's forearms as few times, grinning playfully. "Oh, my. I seem to have dropped the sponge. Would you...pick it up for me?" he said, with an entirely not-straight face.

Finn chuckled and knelt to retrieve the sponge. He was about to straighten, but decided instead to wash Poe from heel to head, scrubbing up his legs and to his hips, then between his legs, grinning when it made Poe shiver just slightly. "I love you," he said softly as he continued working his way up, following his spine and pausing to kiss him.

"Mm, kriff," Poe said, spreading his legs slightly, having closed his eyes. "You should continue or—stop," he gasped, opening his eyes suddenly and grinning. He grasped Finn's wrist and relieved him of the sponge. "I should—I should do the rest," he said. Just being touched by Finn was too hot to handle, and he didn't _really_ want Rey to have to listen to them again. At least not two nights in a row. Maybe every other night was appropriate? "Hang on, I gotta shave. When Chewie says it's looking good, I know my beard is _too long_." Poe laughed and stepped out of the fresher to finish up in front of the mirror, slinging a towel around his waist. He covered his face in shaving cream but when he reached for his razor it clattered into the sink. "Damn," he said, fishing for it and rinsing it in hot water, only then realizing that his hands were shaking. Was he _that_ hungry? Or still scared?

Of course he insisted on taking a pass up his cheek in spite of the warning signs, but that didn't go so well.

"Hey, Poe—let me?" Finn said, reaching up to touch Poe's hand, stopping him so he wouldn't nick his jaw again. "If you really _have_ to shave, I mean. I don't mind helping, but I’ve never done this on another person," he said. But his hands were steady, at least. They were certainly steadier than Poe's, which were shaking.

"I don't know why my hands—" Poe grunted in frustration, but let Finn take the razor. "I think I'm just hungry or—" But Poe shook his head and smiled. "Can't do any worse than me," he said, and relaxed his face, tilting his chin up a little in offering.

"You say that now..." Finn said, and with so much concentration that he was practically giving himself a headache, managed to shave several lines on Poe's cheek without cutting him. He grinned, touching the perfectly smooth skin. "So far so good?" he asked, giving Poe's cheek a kiss.

Poe laughed. "That's not going to taste good," he pointed out, wiping a bit of foam off Finn's chin. "Want to finish me off?" he asked, an attempt at seduction as he bared his neck, resting his hands on Finn's hips to steady both of them. "And okay, wait," he said, as Finn raised his hand, "is it just me, or is this kinda hot?" he wondered, smirking briefly before giving Finn his throat again.

"It's _terrifying_ , you crazy flyboy," Finn responded, starting to shave the rest of Poe's face and neck. "But—yeah, it's kind of hot, too," he added with a smile. When he was finished, he set the razor down and rested one hand where Poe's throat met his collarbone, brushing his thumb very gently up and down before leaning forward and kissing the hollow of his throat. He pressed a line of kisses all the way up Poe's throat to his jaw, and then to his cheek, and finally to his mouth, lingering there for awhile before he reluctantly pulled away, grinning.

"Mmf, let me wash my face first," Poe said, pulling back and grasping Finn's hands, but Finn's kisses were addictive, and licking a little bit of shaving cream probably never killed anyone, right? he thought as he moaned into the kiss. "Hey," he said, when their lips parted and he opened his eyes. "I think my hands have stopped shaking." He smiled, rinsing his face and wiping a bit of shaving cream off Finn's nose.

Finn smiled and dropped a hand towel on Poe's face so he could dry off. "I think they have," he said, and added, "I'm glad I don't have to do that to myself too often. I'd probably... You know, cut my nose off or something."

Poe smiled and kissed Finn again. "Don't even say that. It's a cute nose," he said, offended, and they exited the bathroom proudly in their towels, while Rey scurried into the bathroom to get changed herself while they dressed ("Ugh, it is absolutely _swimming_ in here!").

"Hey," Poe suggested while looking for a particular shirt, and while Rey was still in the bathroom, "would you guys let me take you on a date to the moon? There's a cute little town where I get my tattoos done, and it's kind of a little tourist trap, we can go, grab lunch, do some shopping, and be back before dark?"

Finn still didn't have an abundance of clothes, so it took him considerably less time to get dressed than Poe. He was dressed by the time Poe found the shirt he wanted, giving him the opportunity to sit and watch Poe, shirtless, while he hunted down the clothes he wanted. "Hmmmm," he said, pretending to think about it, then grinned. "Yeah, that sounds fun! Rey?" he asked, as she came out of the bathroom holding her hair up.

"Throw me that—" she said, pointing to one of the elastic bands she used to keep her hair up. Finn tossed it over. "Worst throw, Finn." After she'd retrieved the elastic and secured her hair, she grinned over at Poe. "A date? I've never been on a date—that sounds like a great idea!"

Poe beamed. "Sure, a date! It's what great boyfriends like me do! Even though the last one was complicated by bounty hunters and we got kidnapped and shot at—I’m sure _this one_ will go great! We'll have to go in disguise, though, I mean, civilian clothes..." But looking around, Poe was the only one who needed to change, as his fatigues were stamped with Republic Academy and his jacket was the new Resistance Pilots model. "Okay, hang on. _No_ , Finn, you can't wear The Jacket either. Strictly civilian. We need to aim for outer rim chic—like Rey!"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Poe didn't answer, but once they were all suitably dressed and he had plenty of coin cash (Republic credits weren't preferred currency on the moon, but Yavin still used precious metal coinage so Poe always had some on hand) they made a quick trip to the mess hall for the last fifteen minutes of breakfast. The hall was mostly empty, as they had slept late. "I just gotta get clearance and a transport from the General and we should be good to go," he told them over oatmeal.

"How far is it?" Finn asked, since Rey was busy bolting her own bowl of oatmeal. He was pretty sure it was just because she was hungry, and not because she thought someone would take it from her, which was certainly an improvement over when he'd first met her.

"What's it like? Is it warm like it is here?" she asked, pausing for a moment. If it wasn't, she was going to have to find a jacket or something—the cold still bothered her more than most people she knew.

"Oh yeah, it's cool. You know how moons can be," Poe said, though he wasn't positive his companions did know. "Sorry, we'll get some coats from supply. Big ones. Two for Rey," he said, slinging an arm around her and giving her a squeeze. He had actually eaten his own meal pretty quickly, and was surprised to find they all finished around the same time. "It's a few hours, depending on what kind of transport we can get," Poe said, getting up and taking their trays to the drop. "You two head to supply and I'll—no, second thought, I need your cute mugs to soften up the General," he laughed, touching them both on the chin fondly.

This was going to be a great day.

"General, ma'am?" Poe said, sneaking into Control before he could be told by the commando by the door to leave. "Permission for a few hours shore leave?" It was his rotation off, but he was technically still on call. "I want to take Finn and Rey to see D'Qar III. Also I haven't been to see Rokko since—Starkiller," he said, pulling out the big guns right away by mentioning his tattoo artist. Would Leia really forbid him from getting her husband's name and his pilots’ added to his tattoos? _Actually_ , Poe thought, suddenly worried, _maybe that was too familiar_. But she smiled.

"You know Han wouldn't want you to get his name anywhere _tasteful_ ," she commented with a wry smile.

Poe smiled back, relieved. "Great. There's room on my asscrack."

Leia rolled her eyes, and a few techs and Connix laughed.

"Finn, Rey, you'll keep my commander out of trouble?"

"We'll certainly try, General," Rey said, still grinning at the good-natured teasing between the General and Poe.

"I'll try to avoid getting kidnapped this time—that should help," Finn commented, and Leia shook her head, smiling slightly.

"Good. Rey, have you spoken to Luke?" she asked, and Rey glanced quickly between Leia, Finn, and Poe, trying to figure out if she should have. She still wasn't always sure of herself in this whole Master-Padawan relationship, having had no one who cared about her whereabouts for most of her life.

"No? Should I?" she asked, and Leia shrugged one shoulder.

"It's not really his place to tell you what you should and shouldn't do, but he might appreciate knowing where you are," she suggested. "Regardless—leave granted, take a transport and stay out of trouble."

They eventually tracked Luke down in the hangar where the _Falcon_ was being kept, having been told by BB-8 via R2-D2 that he was there. The hangar initially looked deserted, but then there was a clank and a clatter on-board, followed by muffled cursing and silence. As they followed the noise, there was a questioning roar from the other side of the Falcon.

"I'm fine, Chewie. Just lost my grip." Another roar, and Rey and Poe both laughed. "Yes, I know you told me to use a ladder." Rey shook her head and walked up the ramp, tapping on the Falcon's metal hull on the way. There was another _thunk_ and some more cursing.

"Master Luke?" Rey asked, and Luke stuck a hand up to wave at them from in the floor. "Are you...what are you doing, exactly?" she asked, just as Chewie came around the corner of the hall and roared a hello.

"There was a conduit that needed cleaning, and Chewie is too tall." Chewie muttered at him. "And I'm too short, as Chewie keeps reminding me, and should have used a ladder. Little help, here?" he said, and Chewie reached down to pull him out of the floor. He looked at Finn, Poe, and Rey in turn and smiled. "Did you come to visit, or did you need something?" he asked them.

"We're going off-planet to one of the moons, and the General suggested I might want to let you know," Rey said.

"This planet has some nice moons. Which one?" Luke asked, sounding curious rather than like he was interrogating them.

Rey glanced over at Poe. "I...don't really remember. Poe knows, though, it was his idea."

"Three," Poe said. "It's got the touristy places and shops and artisans. I have my...tattoo artist there," he was explaining before he remembered things were supposed to be awkward between them—weren’t they? "I mean, we came to ask your permission before we borrow your Padawan for the day?" He said, since Rey had forgotten to phrase it like that.

Luke smiled and got a faraway look in his eyes. "I think I can spare her for the day. What do you think, Chewie?"

[You leave me out of this] Chewbacca roared, and Poe laughed.

"Of course you may, and I was wondering if I might ask you for something in return?" Luke said, and Poe eyed him warily but nodded for him to continue. "Rey may have told you we've been looking for force crystals for her lightsaber and have had no luck. I came back to get the coordinates for a planet called Mortis in the Chrelythiumn System, and—"

"Whoa!" Poe interjected. The Chrelythiumn System was near the edge of the known universe, where the Force controlled more than the laws of physics, but it was where they suspected the First Order's Supreme Leader was hiding, so Poe had been on a few scouting missions there and back—which had been successful only because everyone had made it back alive, barely. "Are you really that desperate?"

Luke huffed. "At this point—yes? I'm not as good a pilot as I used to be, and Rey and Chewie have never flown in wild space before..."

"Wait, wait, I meant—hey, are you asking— _me_ —?" Poe wasn't sure whether he should be flattered or worried the old Jedi had cracked.

"Of course, the quest for Force crystals also usually involves a soul quest, and though this isn't traditional, it's a good idea to have loved ones be a part of it...so, Finn, if you would come, too. It would be ideal to have both of you..."

Finn looked over at Rey, who was apparently hearing all of this for the first time as well. She looked excited, bouncing on her toes and watching both of them to see what their reactions would be.

"I'm in," Finn said, and Rey squeaked and hugged him around the neck.

Poe was blushing and, shockingly, speechless. Luke Skywalker was asking _him_ to pilot them through some ethereal physics-breaking Force nonsense for them, _and_ was including him as one of Rey's loved ones.

"Of course, Rey and Chewie and I _could_ manage it without your... _expertise_ ," Luke said, still eyeing Poe carefully.

Poe laughed. "Okay, okay, don't lie to my face, Master Skywalker." He winked but was still blushing. "Of course you _could_ , but if you want a navigator, I'm sure I could make myself available."

"Rey and I can talk more about this, but if she's going to be sensing Force crystals, the presence of..." Luke waved a hand. "But we'll talk more when you get back. Go have fun!"

"Yes, sir," Poe said, putting an arm around Rey and Finn to drag them off to supply.

"So how warm do the jackets need to be?" Finn asked when they reached supply, looking over at Poe. He had no idea how cold moons got, and was fairly certain Rey didn't either. "They need to not have anything obviously Resistance on them, right?"

"Yeah, it's not bad. It's usually quite comfortable, and if there's snow they have fires lit around the shops and stalls and things. They have a really cute shop that sells Life Day stuff all year round." Poe flashed a smile at the girl working supply. "Could I check out two winter coats in medium, and a heavy winter coat extra-small, please? And yeah, unmarked. Civilian."

"Another recon mission, Commander?"

"Now if I were, I couldn't _say_ , could I?" Poe teased, and the girl giggled as she went off on her cart in search of the right boxes, returning surprisingly quickly with the gear: two wool jackets (they were basically the Resistance uniform rejects, but unmarked) and one that was quilted and puffy for Rey.

"I also brought long trousers for Ms. Rey," the supply girl offered. "If you want them."

"Oh, great!" Poe said. "Thanks! Here, put these on, Rey. There's a changing room just there."

While Rey went to put the trousers on, Finn sidled over until he was practically standing on Poe's feet and put his arm around his shoulders, grinning at the inch of height difference that made it more comfortable and then kissing his temple. "We match, with these jackets," he told him, holding up the wool coat. It was maybe the next best thing to wearing Poe's jacket, especially since they matched the quilted one for Rey as well. No one would doubt they were a trio, anyway, which made him smile.

Poe huffed, surprised by the sudden display of affection, wrapping his arms around Finn's waist and kissing him soundly. "You are just the cutest," he said, half to himself, and kissed Finn's nose, and laughed, noticing out of the corner of his eye the supply girl trying not to stare. "Anyway, it's not true. Mine's rakishly asymmetrical, and yours is a lighter color, and Rey's—" But when they looked up and she came out, bundled up and looking so damn _cozy_ like he just wanted to snuggle her and give her hot chocolate, he had to laugh. "Okay, we match. You did this on purpose," he accused the supply girl, who blushed.

"Well, I mean, it _is_ cute," she said. "Commander. Sir. Hope you guys have fun."

Poe made a mental note to bring her a souvenir.

They had to take a transport, which was slow and undignified, but when Poe got fed up with it he let Rey drive before they got the idea that it would be a much better way to pass the time if they were teaching _Finn_ how to fly. Since they had time, by the end Finn could even land without much help, and Poe declared that Finn was flying them back after he and Rey kissed him on opposite cheeks.

"This is a lot easier to fly than the Y-wing," Finn said after they'd kissed him. He turned to kiss first Rey, then Poe on the cheeks, then stood and nodded to the exit ramp from the transport. "Lead the way!" he said, grinning as he took Rey's hand and looped his arm through Poe's.

"So proud," Poe said. "Aren't we proud, Rey?"

"Very," Rey agreed, but her laugh was cut off as she looked around her.

She was struck by the smells first—it smelled like food and people and cold. It was a bright day, but lights and colors twinkled at the booths and stalls and shops. Vendors had jewelry laid out on blankets to buy. Someone was playing a quetarra like Poe had and singing in a language she didn't understand, and Poe dropped a few coins in a dish in front of him as they passed. There were buildings that looked hundreds or thousands of years old, like on Takodana. The plants were scrubby and dark green ranging to blue.

"Oh wow! Poe, what's that smell?"

"Uhh...what smell?"

"All of them!"

Finn laughed, leaning over to kiss Rey's cheek, and then bent to pick a pretty bunch of blue leaves off a shrub. "They're all on the same bush!" he exclaimed, surprised that the plants went from blue at the tips to bright green at the bases. He presented the leaves shyly to Rey, who touched them gently and then tucked them behind her ear. He picked another bundle for Poe and handed them to him, smiling crookedly.

"Where do we go first?" Finn asked, overwhelmed by the colors and sounds and smells and the huge number of people.

Poe kissed Finn again as he took the fronds, tucking them into his buttonhole. "I was going to see if Rokko's busy, get my tattoo done first, if you don't mind waiting. She's awesome, you'll love her shop."

Poe led them down an alley and through a few buildings until he came to a door that was covered in bright stickers for bands and restaurants and speeder brands and other things. "Rokko you in? It's Poe!" he said, pushing straight through the door.

A zabrak with small spikes on her forehead and dark hair pulled into a bun on the top of her head looked up from a book.

"Poe Dameron!" she said, hopping over the table and kissing him on both cheeks. "Who are your friends?" 

"This is Finn, my boyfriend, and Rey, our girlfriend," he said, laughing a little. "They wanted to look around and—” Poe’s face grew serious, “I, ah, came to get another few names."

Her face immediately sobered. "I'm sorry. I'm ready to go if you are."

"Yeah. You heard about Han Solo?"

"Kriff, _no_. Han _Solo_? I thought he'd live forever," she said grimly, shook herself, and then smiled at Finn and Rey. "Finn, Rey, nice to meet you. Feel free to look around, or you can watch if you like."

Finn looked around for a few minutes, because there was art on every possible surface of the shop, but then drifted back over toward Rokko and Poe, curious about how the ink really got under Poe's skin. Rey poked around the shop for considerably longer, stopping to stare curiously at various things before coming over to watch as well.

"Did you do all of Poe's tattoos?" Finn asked quietly, not wanting to distract Rokko from what she was doing.

Poe shrugged out of his coat, slinging it over the back of a chair and then taking off his shirt as well. He swung his leg over the padded chair and leaned forward on his elbows, an old hand at this. "I got the main X-wing design done on Coruscant when I graduated, but she's done mostly everything since then," Poe said.

"Parts of your X-Wing could use a touch-up," she commented, hands brushing over his back.

"Oh Maker, don't remind me how old I am!" Poe laughed, settling forward on the chair.

"Where do you want it?"

"Near Ben Organa-Solo, if possible. Finn, Rey? You want to pick a few spots?" he offered. “Ello Asty is the other name, and Lesath Gu was the cadet I trained. We lost them in the assault on Starkiller.”

Rokko nodded. “Write them out for me so I spell them right.”

Poe nodded and jotted them down. And those were only the ones Poe had been really close to. If he got every name of every pilot he had ever lost…

"There are so many," Rey said in a soft voice, resting her hand in the middle of Poe's back, her heart hurting for him. Finn touched the back of her hand and then brushed his fingers over the lone 'Ben Organa-Solo.’

"What about right here?" he asked, fingers following a curve and looping back up. “For Han.” It would place Han's name symmetrically opposite his son's on the curve, without placing it in the mirroring position on the other side of Poe's back.

"Or there," Rey said, tilting her head at the line of the tattoo. Rokko hummed.

"Either mirrored on that curve—you know where I mean, just opposite, on the up-side of Ben is on the down-side—or I can put it on the other side of that line, and the letters will both touch the same line," she said to Poe.

"Yeah, sounds good, I trust you," Poe said, nodding at Rokko but smiling at Rey and taking her hand as they pointed out places for Ello and Lesath. He craned his neck around to see where Finn had gone, but by now she had the needle gun out and ready:

"Okay, stop moving now. Before I start, you've got good money, right?"

"Rokko, that was _one_ time, and I've paid you back!" he laughed, and then rested his chin on his fist.

They were small jobs, but part of it went right over his shoulder blade and Poe tensed as the needle first pierced his skin, squeezing Rey's hand a little harder.

"This your first time seeing anyone get a tattoo?" Rokko asked conversationally, and Poe swallowed a curse that had nothing to do with the sting of getting a name over his shoulder blade. He probably should have warned them both first. Where was Finn?

"Yeah," Finn said, voice a little tight and concerned, reminding himself that unlike certain other situations, Poe had known this one and deliberately put himself in it. And he had said it involved a needle, but Finn hadn't quite expected this. Poe looked to be in _pain_. It didn't seem to bother Rey.

"Hey Finn, why don't you come over here," Rey said as he looked like he was forcing himself calm. "Finn?" she said again, and he went over to her. "Here, hold hands," she said, and went to where Finn had been standing, so she was able to better see what Rokko was doing.

"Just barely stings," Poe said, flashing Finn a smile, as much worried by his concern as touched by it. "She's got to get the ink under the skin, so the needle—"

The buzzing stopped, and the needle came up. "I can't while you're talking," Rokko said, and Poe used the break to sit up and take Finn's hand so he was holding hands with both of them (like _he_ needed this).

"Sorry, Rokko. Could you explain to them how it works, please?"

"Is the blood normal?" Rey said, biting her lip and pointing.

Rokko nodded as she settled in, daubing at the spot. "Yeah, it's not a lot though, see? He bled more nicking himself shaving this morning," she said, and Poe bit down a laugh, trying not to move.

"He didn't," Finn said without thinking, then turned red when everyone looked at him, "I mean he didn't shave. I helped," he explained. Rey was looking from him to Poe like she did when BB-8 did something particularly novel and cute.

"I wondered what took you so long," she said, smiling.

"He shaved me after I had already cut myself," Poe corrected, grinning up at Finn, who still looked worried though he wasn't quite as pale as before. "Rokko, where should I take—"

"Poe, can you seriously _not_ shut up? You move too much when you talk."

Poe grimaced: "Sorry!"

Rokko smiled at Rey. "He's not usually this chatty during this part. He must like you two a lot."

"We like _him_ a lot!" Rey answered, and Finn smiled, catching her infectious grin. "How do you get the lines so narrow?" she asked, watching Rokko start on the S in Solo.

"Well, it's all done with a needle, to get the pigment beneath the first layer of skin—" Rokko said, without breaking her concentration, "so getting it thin is not the problem. Getting the lines thick is what takes work."

A half hour more, and she was done. She blotted it once and came away with a few dots of blood before waving a laser over it and then applying a salve. "Okay, let that dry and you're done. You know the drill, no drugs or alcohol, eat a hearty meal—"

"Get a good night's rest, sleep with it uncovered, I know, Rokko," Poe said, giving Rey and Finn's hands a squeeze before letting go to push himself up. "So what I was going to say is where should I take them for dinner? I love the burrito guy but I don't think they've ever been to a fancy sit-down place."

Rokko smiled wickedly. "Well, if you have enough—40 silver, by the way, if you've got it—"

"I'm only carrying platinum today, sorry, what's the exchange?"

"Uh, okay, then like three and a half?"

Poe gave her four.

"Well there's a new bar and grill that does a little bit of everything. Tapas, small plates, and entrees, too. They'll take your Republic credits, actually. I've only been once, but they had a chocolate flourless cake..."

"Sold!" Poe said, and laughed. "If that sounds all right to you two?"

"Perfect for date night," Rokko added.

"But let's do some shopping first. Work up an appetite."

"Sounds good to me—especially the cake," Finn said, and Rey nodded her agreement—of course, neither of them were picky, and would try just about any food once. As they left the shop, Finn looked up and down the street, marveling all over again at the town and everything in it.

"So! Which direction?" Rey asked, bringing his attention back, and he glanced over at Poe for input.

"Pick a direction. That way's back to the square," Poe pointed, linking arms with both of them. "But there's shops and things to explore everywhere. There's a museum this way, and some historic buildings that way. The old buildings are kind of cool—oh! And there's this tiny little history of flight museum. It's got some _really_ old planes that didn't even break atmo, isn't that great? That one's this way, so we can go through the shops. Oh, and there's also a random...zoo-type thing? It’s basically one guy who has a bunch of reptiles and snakes and things in terrariums, and he charges like one copper to get in and look at them. We should check that out, too. Anyone for a hot drink?" he babbled, stopping as they came to a caf cart. "They have coffee, hot chocolate, hot tea, hot juri juice..."

"A zoo? You can look at the animals close-up?" Finn asked, taking the coffee Poe handed him.  Rey bounced on her toes behind them for a minute before asking for a hot chocolate with coffee in it.

"We should go there first," she said, "And see old buildings?" She didn't have money to buy a lot of things here, but seeing things—that was inexpensive and basically everything she saw was new and exciting.

"Yeah! Well, not a zoo. It's just snakes and lizards and things in like glass cages. It's really small," Poe said, "but I like it. Hey," he stopped them at a booth wreathed in flowers, and smiled at the vendor as he plucked up a crown woven with yellow and pink flowers and pink and gold ribbons. "Rey, would you wear this?" he asked, setting it gingerly on her head, mindful of her buns. "Oh, man, that smells _really_ good."

Rey grinned brightly, reaching up to touch the flowers very gingerly, settling them more securely on her head. "Of course I'll wear it, it's beautiful," she said, sniffing the air for the lovely smell.  "What are they called?" she asked the vendor, while Finn very carefully poked around the booth, sniffing the different flowers that he'd never seen or smelled before.

"They're plumeria, and they're 4 quatloos," the vendor said. Poe wondered what someone so serious was doing selling flower crowns, but he dug into his pocket.

"Oh, no, sorry, I don't have any—" Rey said, beginning to take it off.

"No, no, leave it on. You take coin?" Poe said, counting out silver. "I just want my baby to have nice things," he said, giving her a cheesy grin. "Finn, you want one? I think you'd look nice in this blue one..."

"That's lotus. It's also four."

"I like that one," Finn said, smiling when Poe handed it to him. He set it on his head and grinned as one side dropped a little lower than the other, putting it at an angle. Rey nodded approval and then glanced between Poe and the cart.

"You should have one too!" she said, and reached for one that was all yellow flowers and dark green leaves.  The flowers had pretty dark centers that contrasted with their bright petals, and she handed the crown over to Poe with a smile.

"Black-Eyed Susans. Also...four," the vendor told him.

"Love it." Poe beamed at Rey and dipped his head so she could lay the crown on him, paying the vendor for the their two crowns as they continued on their way. "We'll have to get a picture when we get back to the ship. My dad will laugh," he said. "Oh, hey, Finn—not that I don't love seeing you in my clothes—but if we go in here you could pick out some clothes that would actually be yours, if you want. Then maybe _I_ could steal them sometimes," he chuckled.

"Oh! Me, too," Rey said. "I mean, I'll steal them, too," she added with a giggle.

"You know you too could get some of your own clothes," Poe teased, holding the door open for them. "It's on me. Go crazy. Think of it as I'm making up for all the birthdays and Life Days where we didn't know each other yet."

"Birthdays?" Finn asked, at the same time that Rey asked, "Life Days?" They looked at each other and then back at Poe. "What do you mean?" Finn asked. "What are you making up for?"

"I—" Poe said, and his smile faltered. Of course they didn't know about presents! He smiled past the ache that caused in his heart and followed them into the store, linking arms with them and taking them to menswear first (it was a small shop, so they didn't have far to go). " _Presents_!" he told them animatedly. "You get presents on your birthday—the anniversary of the day you were born, every year—and on Life Day—just a big party where everyone gives everyone else presents. They're gifts. You usually wrap them in pretty paper so they're a surprise. So I'm sorry, but yours won't be wrapped. Or a surprise." He let go of them to pluck some brown trousers off a stack. "How about these?" he said, holding them up to Finn's waist. "You can try them on...somewhere..." he looked around for a fitting room. Rey laughed, amused by all of this.

After someone had pointed him to a fitting room, Finn changed into the pants and looked in the mirror. They looked much like any other pair of pants he'd ever worn, except a little tighter. "I think they fit?" he said, stepping from the fitting room and looking at Poe and Rey for input.  "Unless they're supposed to be loose, like my other ones. But they feel comfortable."

Poe whistled as Finn exited. "I like 'em," he said. "Rey?"

Rey didn't precisely see the point of this. "They are—they seem to fit?"

"Okay, okay," Poe said, standing between them in his Explaining Something voice. "You don't have to, of course, but some people like to dress to flatter their bodies and display colors and things that they find aesthetically pleasing. I mean, I'd love both of you wearing a grain bag—hells, I fell in love with this guy when he was still dressed like a buckethead. But, see—turn around, Finn?— _look_ at that butt. The pants are not too tight but they show off his assets, right? Best ass in the Resistance, right there. And a good color."

Rey nodded slowly. "Maybe a darker color?" She rummaged through the stack. "They have then in a dark gray," she said, offering, and Poe smiled. "Exactly! Want ‘em in brown or gray, Finn?"

Finn looked between the two colors, eyes narrowed, and then nodded to the ones Rey was holding.  "Gray, please," he said, "I'm going to go put my own clothes back on!" he added, grinning, and re-emerged from the fitting room a moment later in the clothes he'd worn from base. He had the pants he'd tried on folded neatly and put them back right where he'd found them. Rey handed him the gray ones and he traded her a kiss on the cheek for them.

Poe smiled. "Great. Those did look fantastic," he told Finn, giving him a kiss. "And definitely stealable. You want a few shirts, maybe?" he asked, and they wandered the shop, grabbing some shirts and one tunic shirt to go under the officer's uniform Poe was certain Finn was definitely going to get someday soon, and some sleeping pants and underwear and socks. Rey got, to Poe's slight dismay, a gray vest and beige trousers, even though he had her try on colors and prints and dresses until she was annoyed. "Okay, okay, some people look great in the same damn thing every day, it’s fine," he said, and she punched his arm as he handed over his credit stick.

"What about this?" Finn asked, just as Poe handed over his credit stick, and the shopkeeper paused, smiling at him a lot more pleasantly than the flower guy had. Rey looked like she might be ready to punch Finn in the shoulder, too, but he held out a short necklace toward her.

"What is it?" she asked, turning it over in her hands.

"I'm not really sure. But it's pretty. It reminds me of you," Finn said. It appeared to be made of parts of a very small watch, gears overlapping and looking a little reminiscent of Poe's tattoos.

"It opens—it’s a locket," the shopkeeper said, and reached over to swivel a gear out of the way and pop the little charm open. There was a flicker, and a small hologram appeared, apparently stored in a tiny chip inside the necklace.

"Oh—I have one of those," Poe said with a fond smile. "It’s—somewhere. Got a picture of my parents in it—as completely dorky as that is, wow." He eyed Rey carefully, a blush creeping up on his cheeks. "You—you load a holopic on it and—is that something you'd want? I'm sure we could load it up with a goofy one of us and BB-8 being obnoxious or something, so that when you were away—unless that's stupid..."

"No!" Rey said quickly, and blushed, and looked at Finn. "You think it's...‘me’?" She'd heard Poe use that phrase. She was pretty sure it meant 'does it look like something you'd like to see me wear?'

"Yeah, especially if you like it. It's small enough it won't get in the way of anything, and the metal the chain is made of is strong, so it won't break easily, I don't think." Finn looked at the shopkeeper for input.

"They're intended for laborers who have to leave their families for long periods of time, so they're fairly durable," he said. Finn looked over at Rey, who already seemed to be cherishing the locket, though she looked almost guarded about it, like it was too good to be true.

"We'll take it," Poe said, and then glanced at Finn. "You want one, too? Should we all get one? Is that stupid?" he laughed and blushed. "Never mind."

Rey blushed, too. "No, no, I like that idea." She smiled shyly.

The clerk, seeing an opportunity for more profit, or perhaps finding them all really cute, pointed: "There's a whole rack of them over there."

Finn was about to ask Rey if she wanted a different locket, since he had originally only seen the one he'd given her, and there might be one she liked better, but the way she was holding it clasped tightly in her hand, he doubted that would go over well. "Help me find one for Poe?" he said instead, and she grinned, starting to look through each individual locket. They found three that sort of worked before Rey found one that was shaped like an elongated diamond. The front was a simple geometric design, but the back had been covered in intersecting circles.

"Oh, it looks like _Black One_ without her wings open," Finn said, and Rey nodded.

"I thought so too! Do you like it, Poe?" she asked, handing it to him.

Poe glanced at it and blushed, the fact that neither of them had probably ever given anyone a gift before this not lost on him, and his heart swelled. "Y-yeah, it's great." He would have been happy with a rock. "W-what about for Finn?" he managed to remember to ask, nudging Finn gently out of the way so he and Rey could inspect the rack of hololockets. There was one in a dull silver that was a series of three concentric disks that could spin and shift around. It was fiddly, and for some reason Poe liked the thought of Finn fiddling with his locket. "What about this one?" he asked Rey.

"Yeah, I think that's perfect. Finn?" Rey asked, and he smiled, spinning the disks a few times.

"I love it," he said softly. "There's a disk for each of us. It's perfect." He kissed Rey, a short peck on the corner of her mouth that made her grin as she blushed, and a slightly less chaste kiss for Poe, because he could.

"Mm," Poe said, surprised and delighted by the kiss in the middle of the store. "That was nice. You want five lockets?" he smirked, and sauntered over to the clerk again with their final purchases, confident and feeling lighter than air. "Thanks for that, man," he told the clerk, flashing him a dashing smile as he handed over his credit stick with finality this time. It was a large haul, but well worth it for the lockets alone. Okay, and the pants. They exited the shop all bearing bags. "Should we drop these off in the ship and then check out the zoo?" Poe offered. Rey and Finn couldn't stop smiling, and Poe realized he couldn't, either.

"Yes!" Finn and Rey both said at almost the same time. Finn narrowed his eyes playfully at Rey.  "Out of my brain," Finn said, and her eyes widened.

"But I wasn't—"

"I was joking, I'm sorry, it's okay," Finn said when he realized she hadn't caught on to the joke.  She still looked a little nervous, so he threw an arm around her shoulders and hugged her from the side, nearly tripping both of them.

“Here, guys, wait, come here,” he said, greeting BB-8 at the ship as they set their bags down. “Bee, you want to take a picture for us? We can load up our lockets right away. A silly picture.”

[Humanoids always look silly] BB-8 commented, and Poe laughed as they crouched down to get close to BB-8’s camera, and BB-8 agreeably took a few pictures and promised they would download them to the lockets straightaway.

“You sure you don’t want to come with, Bee? We’re going to the snake museum!”

BB-8 shook their head, preferring talking to the transport ship. [Also, I do not like creatures that are small enough to crawl inside my gears. It’s an irrational phobia, I know] BB-8 explained, matter-of-factly. Poe laughed but let the droid alone.

"So the zoo. Are there more than five animals?" Finn asked Poe, reaching out and drawing them both closer, so they were all walking in a line.

Poe chuckled, leading them across the square, past the quetarra player again, to the zoo. "Yes, there's more than five, but not more than...twenty? And I mean, once you've seen one snake, you've seen them all..." He shrugged. "It's cool though, you'll like it for at least twenty minutes."

Finn had to stand still once they were inside the zoo for his eyes to adjust to the lower light level, but as soon as they did adjust, it was like he'd stepped into a different world. The interior was decorated like a jungle, with tanks here and there containing what must be lizards and snakes.  Some of the tanks were decorated like the desert, or like grassy plains, and some were full of water.  He couldn't decide what he wanted to see first, but then Rey made a small squeaking noise and pointed.

"Little _frogs_!" she said, and they made a beeline for a tank that was full mostly of decoration, at first glance. Then Finn noticed tiny flashes of color and realized they were caused by the tiny frogs Rey had seen, which kept flickering between several different neon colors.

"Poe look! They change color!" he exclaimed, quietly excited.

Poe laughed. "Great!" He said, but not at the frogs: Finn and Rey's eyes were wide, their smiles bright, and, oh yeah, he was paying the guy at the front. "Sorry, they've never been to a zoo before," he explained to the guy, grinning.

Rey was squeaking shrilly but quietly. "Ohhh they're so cuuuute! Poe, Poe why are they so tiny? Why do they change color?"

"I have no idea. What does the plaque say?" He said, steering them towards the information screen, which they immediately read from start to finish.

"It says they're from Takodana! I didn't see any, did you, Finn?" Rey cried, giggling as one turned the color of her flower crown.

"You spent considerably more time trampling around the jungle than I did, didn't you?" Finn asked, and pointed at another frog. "That one keeps changing every time the other one does," he commented, pointing at the one that currently matched Rey's crown.

"Maybe they're communicating?" Rey asked, watching as the crown-colored one turned bright yellow, followed by the one Finn had found. "They're so _tiny_!" she added, leaning closer to get a better look at one that was currently an almost-blinding shade of blue.

Seeing as they weren't going to want to move on any time soon, Poe finally settled down for a close look, resting his chin on Rey's shoulder. "Hey that one's orange! Hmm, the plaque says they change colors to fool predators into thinking they are poisonous. And also to attract mates—" As if on cue, two frogs who had gone the same color now joined together, one jumping on the other's back, and Poe laughed.

Rey laughed at the perfect comedic timing of the little frogs, and so did Finn, before pointing excitedly to another frog. "It's doing push-ups! Up down up down up down go little guy go!" he laughed, cheering on the bright orange frog as it did, indeed, do tiny push-ups.

Poe cackled as this display resulted in another mating. "I agree with the frog," he whispered in Finn's ear: "I find it very hot watching my boyfriend do push-ups, too." He grinned shamelessly, and Rey rolled her eyes but gave them a fond smile, especially when Finn flushed to his ears.

"Shall we move on?" Poe wondered, but "No," Rey said as Finn echoed "Not yet," still mesmerized by the blinking, tiny, colorful frogs.

Poe was going to have to recalculate how long they were going to spend here, at this rate. They were going to need a _month_ at the zoo on Coruscant!

"How are they so tiny?" Finn asked, still amazed that these tiny, bright creatures existed. "Look! That one is even tinier!" he said, pointing at a frog that was climbing from the water and hopping towards one of the other frogs. The other ones walked away, and Finn frowned. "Poor little guy. He needs a friend," he said sadly, putting a finger up and gently touching the glass. He bent until his nose was practically touching the tank and didn't breathe, not wanting to fog the glass. "Come on, little buddy, make some colors! You can make colors!" he told it quietly.

Poe clapped Finn on the shoulder when it became apparent that the little frog wouldn't  (or couldn't) change color. "Hey, he's cool. He's doing his thing, he just wants to be different. Our nonconforming tiny frog."

Rey grinned. "So, like Finn."

"Oh no he's nothing like Finn. A Finn frog would be mobbed by all the other frogs wanting to be his friend. This guy's just a loner, you know."

"So more like Luke?" Finn asked, grinning, and Rey elbowed him in the side.  He gave the tiny frogs a last look and then stepped over to the terrarium next to the frogs. "I don't see anything..." he said after a moment of searching for the snake that appeared on the sign for the tank.

"Oh, she's shy," the owner said, stepping up behind them since they seemed so interested, and Poe knew he had lost them. "But you can see her coiled around her log there in the back. She needs a larger terrarium, she's gotten so big. Let's see if I can get you to see her wings..."

Oh right, this was the winged snake, Poe remembered, though he didn't say anything. The man left and then returned with a box, and dropped some disoriented moths inside, which began fluttering about.

Something moved in the back if the terrarium, which Poe only knew because Rey squeaked. Wide-eyed like children, they both bent over, pressing their faces nearly to the glass, blocking the view. Poe didn't really mind: the view from where he was standing was _just_ fine.

From where it had been coiled at the back of its terrarium, the snake sprang forward and opened long, tapered wings to go after one of the moths. "Look at her go!" Rey exclaimed as she looped back up and hovered briefly in front of them, her two wings splitting open to four. Then she flew to the corner and slicked all four wings back along her body and curled in a branch close to the glass and to her owner, tongue flicking occasionally. "She's beautiful," Rey said softly, moving very slowly to get as close as she could without pushing the owner or scaring the snake.

"She reminds me of an X-Wing," Finn said appreciatively, "Can you imagine if we painted a few to match her?" he asked, laughing. When she was still and in shadow, she looked dark, almost black. But where light touched her smooth, shiny scales, she was iridescent green, with gold streaks where the light was brightest.

"That would be pretty gorgeous," Poe agreed, grinning helplessly. Attempting to remain cool and aloof wasn't working for Poe, as Rey and Finn's excitement was catching (and he'd been in here a few times but had never actually spoken to the owner before, hadn't realized how great he was when you showed interest and got him talking). At the next terrarium, the owner introduced them to a pair of love lizards, who mate for life and currently had a clutch of eggs on the way. The eggs were small and pale pink. A bit further on, he actually opened up one of the cages and lifted out what looked to Poe like a large snake, which coiled around Rey and Finn's hands affectionately. "Poe! Look! Oh gosh!" Rey whisper-screamed, eyes lit with wonder. "Do you want to pet it? Poe, you should—can he pet it?"

"Of course," the owner said, and Poe stepped forward to run a finger over the not-business end, somewhere in the middle.

"It's pretty soft," he said. He wasn't squeamish: he remembered his class having a pet snake when he was in school, and he had seen plenty of snakes growing up on Yavin, but it was hammered home pretty hard that he should, generally, never touch them. "So this one's not venomous?"

"No, this one squeezes his food to death—but he's no danger to you. He won't try to squeeze your neck or your arm or anything, except to hold on so he doesn't fall on the ground," the man said. The snake, in the meantime, had discovered Rey's hair and was attempting to climb up the back of her head to sit on top. Rey laughed as it poked at her ear with its nose, and Finn gently encouraged it down and around his forearm instead.

Poe laughed as it wound its way up Finn's arm, and he thought that was kind of pretty against his skin and resolved to buy Finn some arm jewelry if he didn't mind Poe dressing him up. They continued around the small room (the snake still coiled around Finn's arm, since, like everyone in the galaxy, apparently, the snake seemed to feel safe around Finn), until they were met with a nasty-looking dark purple lizard.

"This one is great," the owner said proudly, a bit of a manic gleam in his eyes. "He's from Wild Space, on a planet called Mortis."

Poe raised an eyebrow, taking an interest for the first time, and intentionally not glancing at Rey. "Really? Where's that? I've been in the Wild Reaches myself a few times, but never—"

"Oh, it's got a gravity well around it, you can't miss it. Strange things happen there, I hear." The man whispered: "Old Republic Jedi mumbo-jumbo. Don't truck with it."

"Got it," Poe said. "And you found this little guy there?"

"Oh yeah, he's a spitter. When he gets his fan up—you can see here where he's got the glass and I haven't cleaned it up yet. He's pretty friendly, though, once he's been fed."

"What do they eat?" Rey asked.

"Oh, any meat they can find. I feed him tauntaun or horse when I can get it."

"Great." _This_ was the planet Luke wanted them to go to? Where even the cute little lizards were maneaters?

Finn's snake friend did _not_ like the purple lizard. As soon as they stopped in front of the tank, it coiled further up Finn's arm and then laced itself around his neck like a scarf, its head tucked at Finn's collar bone, under several coils. "Why do they spit? Is it a hunting thing, or defense, or they just...like doing that?" he asked, eyeing the lizard.

"Do they bite?" Rey asked from next to him.

"Oh, Fredo here would never bite," the owner explained warmly. "And he only spits when startled. The spit is what you gotta watch out for, of course: it induces interesting hallucinations. If it weren't for the fever that almost kills ya I'd figure out how to sell it, rival the spice trade—only you didn't hear me say that," the man chuckled, realizing he'd gotten a bit too familiar. "And last we've got the spiny-collared toad. She's harmless, again, because she's small, though they can get to be up to six feet and could eat a man whole."

What was in this cage, however, was hardly small. It was nearly as big as BB-8! Still, Poe smiled. "Now see I like this guy."

"Girl."

"Girl, sorry. Look at that chill." Poe had seen more active Hutts. All of the toad's fat just hung out so she was quite wide and flat. It made Poe laugh.

"You want to hold her?"

"Can I?" _Oh, no, now he sounded like Rey and Finn!_

"How heavy is she?" Finn asked Poe when the toad was settled, apparently happily, in his arms. She didn't really move much, except to shift around until she was nestled down and as flat as it looked possible for her to go.

"What'll you do with her when she gets too big?" Rey asked, having looked around and calculated that this room was unlikely to hold a six-foot-wide toad that could and would eat people whole.

"Well, probably give her to a zoo," the man said. "That'll be a sad day for both of us. She's only about ten kilos now and likes being held. Isn't she a cutie?"

Poe beamed, the toad's legs and fat spilling over his arms to just hang loosely. It made him laugh again. "What's her name?"

"I call her Bellie."

"Hi, Bellie. My name is Poe. Yes, I think Rey looks pretty yummy, too, but we don't eat people. Not until we're _much_ bigger," he added in a whisper, winking at Finn and Rey.

Finn understood why Poe had been so content to let them stand and gape at the animals, though he'd seen them before and it was probably boring for him. Watching him laugh over the toad, which Finn personally thought was hideous, listening to him talk to her quietly, like she would understand every word, made Finn's heart melt. Rey may have made a soft little sighing noise at Poe and his toad friend while the owner told him all about Bellie and where she'd come from (Tattooine, which seemed an unusual place for a toad) and how old she was now and how fast toads like her grew. Finn glanced over at her and they shared a smile.

Poe was startled out of his happy place by the sound of someone's (Finn's, maybe) stomach growling. "Oh hey, what time is it?" He asked, finding a clock on the wall. "Oh crap is it 1900 already? We should go. I'm sorry, didn't you close an hour ago?"

The man shrugged. "We were having such fun, I didn't mind." He took Bellie back and put her in her cage where she croaked a bit mournfully. It was another trick to get the snake from around Finn's neck, where he had decided this was the best place to be ("You and me both, man," Poe muttered at the snake, and Rey giggled as Finn blushed). "Come on, guys, we've got to get to dinner. They may be crowded already." Poe hated waiting to eat, but he shoved some coins into the man's donation box. "Thanks for staying open for us. We had fun."

Rey nodded shyly in agreement and waved, whispering something at the winged snake as she passed.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are all zoos like that?" Finn asked as they walked to dinner, taking Rey's hand when she brushed against him as they walked. "I’ve never seen so many different animals in one place! They were all so happy—even the flying snake," he added.

"She was my favorite," Rey said quietly and smiled fondly. She'd been so pretty and delicate and quick!

"No," Poe laughed, walking quickly and hurrying them along behind him. "No, most zoos are bigger, and run by lots of people, and have more different kinds of animals. I didn't think we'd spend the whole day there!" He laughed at them, half teasing, half in awe. "You'll need a year to look at a proper zoo. Hey, let's duck into the restrooms here and wash our hands before we go eat, huh? Ladies is that way, Rey."

When Rey returned, Poe and Finn were waiting for her. She narrowed her eyes at Poe, whose hair was much less frizzy from humidity than it had been. "Did you fix your hair while you were in there?" she asked, and reached up to tousle it.

"Hey watch it," Poe said, jerking his head back with a laugh. Sure, he and Finn had shared a kissing tryst in the bathroom, and _then_ his hair had needed fixing, and she probably knew that. "Don't mess with perfection," he told her, adjusting his hair again.

"But it's soft!" Rey protested, giggling. That wasn't why she was messing it up, granted, but it wasn't untrue either.

Poe kissed her cheek. "Rey, you can play with my hair all the way back to base if you want," he said. "Come on, you guys will love it. Well, I hope it's good. But you'll love the experience: an entire business dedicated to food. You choose off a list, and people bring you food and wait on your every need. A very common date for a guy to take his boyfriend or girlfriend on—or both, for us lucky ones." He winked.

"Like Maz’s place on Takodana?" Rey asked, remembering that there was lots of food there—she’d eaten as much of it as she could.

"That food was weird," Finn said, and at Rey's glower added, "I ate it! It was just weird. I eat weird food. How are fried frogs _not_ weird? And I eat those," he said.

"They have weird and normal food here. It should all be good though, I trust Rokko," he said, opening the large door for them and following close behind. "Hi, table for three? How long of a wait is it?"

"I think we can seat you in about twenty minutes, sir," said the young Twi'lek hostess. "You can wait at the bar."

Poe smiled. "Perfect, thanks. Want to sit down, guys?"

Rey gasped. This was _nothing_ like Maz's place. Everything was clean and ordered, and wasn’t thronging with people. The workers of whatever kind had long aprons that looked more handsome than functional, and the tables were set with cloth napkins and gleaming crystal and china. Poe had to guide them to the bar because they were staring: the wall was lined with so many bottles of different colors and shapes and sizes. "Wow," she said, feeling a bit intimidated, like she didn't quite belong.

When they sat, Finn made sure Rey was between them, because she was looking a little overwhelmed, and that way she wouldn't have to worry about some random stranger coming up and getting in her space and making it worse. "It's _so_ nice in here," Finn said, unable to help noticing that most everyone was dressed nicer than the three of them—although there were also some who had obviously wandered in unaware of the unspoken dress code. "I…like it," he said after considering it for several moments, and leaned over to bump against Rey's shoulder. "You have a rainbow on your face," he told her, reaching to gently touch her cheek where the reflected light from a bottle nearby threw a small rainbow across her skin. He grinned at Poe, catching him smiling at both of them.

"To be honest I didn't know it was going to be quite this fancy, but they probably get a lot of tourists, so we don’t stick out _too_ much," Poe mused. He snagged a black book off the table and flicked through it. "Let's see, we should have cocktails. I'm gonna get a martini—not sure either of you will like it. Do you want something sweet or tart? What flavors of juices do you like best? That’s a good place to start. Oh, yes they have something called a Jakku Sunrise, you should get that one for Rey." He laughed and pointed. "Here, you look." He passed them the menu, which had pictures and descriptions, though that probably wasn't helpful.

The bartender came by with a bright smile. "What can I get for you?" she asked.

"Well my friends here are new to cocktails, can you help them out?" Poe explained. "And I'll have a dry martini, drier than the driest desert on Tattooine."

"Great.” The bartender turned to Rey and Finn. “Hi, guys, I'm Solara. Tell me what kinds of flavors you like."

"I like fruit,” Rey chirped. “Really sweet fruit. Like berries? Especially the red ones." The bartender nodded thoughtfully and then looked at Finn.

“How about you?”

"I really _really_ like chocolate. Any kind, but I like the stuff that's a mix of bitter and sweet best," he said.

"I think I can work with that," she said brightly. "We'll try a juri-berry daiquiri for the young lady, and I can try my favorite dessert cocktail for the young gentleman. You like coffee, right?" She checked, and Finn nodded. "I'll start with his martini, and then we can try a few things out. If you don't absolutely love it, you make this guy drink it and I'll make you a new one," she teased, giving Poe his martini on a small napkin. After explaining her way through the next cocktail, she placed something bright pink and covered in fruit before Rey. "How's that?"

Rey tasted it and blinked in surprise, then took another sip. "It's really good!" She took another sip, and realized it was dangerously good—she couldn't even taste alcohol. "There's so much fruit I can't tell what's what. But I like it!" she said. "Anyone want to taste it?"

Poe had a taste, then made a face. "Too sweet!" he said, and Finn agreed when he tried it.

"Can you make something chocolatey but less sweet?” Finn asked.

The bartender smiled brightly. "Absolutely." She shook a few things together until she placed a dark drink before Finn, with a lime wedge stuck in, the rim of the glass lined with chocolate powder. "How's that?"

The drink the bartender handed Finn tasted a strange combination of salty and sweet, with a bitter edge that caught him off-guard. "I need to try it again," he said as Rey started to ask him how he liked it. Prepared for the slightly strange taste this time, he enjoyed it more—there was chocolate, but not overwhelmingly sweet, and the chocolatey salt around the rim actually went perfectly with it. "That's really good! It surprised me at first, but I like it!" he told the bartender, who smiled at him. He passed it over to Rey and Poe to taste.

Fifteen minutes later, they were already giggly as they made their way to the table with half-finished cocktails. "Okay, guys, let me sit in between so I can help both of you—and this gentleman us going to hand us our menus—they’re from the Outer Rim," he explained to the waiter, "never been to a restaurant before."

The waiter nodded, waiting until they were settled before handing them large black books with holoprojected menus inside. "Well, I hope we can provide a pleasant first experience. Please take your time perusing the menu. I recommend our catch of the day which you'll find listed on the insert. I'll be back with water and to see if you have any questions."

Poe leaned in, helping them navigate the menu. "What are you in the mood for? You can have anything you like. Let's start with an appetizer, something we can all split."

"I don't know what half of this actually is..." Rey whispered to Finn, and he made a soft noise of agreement.

"Um...” Finn said. “So since the two of us have basically experienced...well, the cafeteria, maybe we should start by figuring out what everything is?" He scrolled through the menu and realized that the bulk of it was organized at least, by type of food it seemed, even if the appetizers weren't.

"Hey, it's not a test. We'll start with the small list,” Poe said, since they looked nervous. “See, these are breaded cheese sticks you dip in sauce, these are potatoes with cheese and bacon on top, these are, well, chicken wings, or we can get these fancy duck tacos." He paused, reading more closely. "Oh, that sounds good, actually. With a sweet sauce and, hmm. Mm. We should get those. Haha, I'm the worst. Yes, make your own decisions, as long as it’s what I want!" He laughed and put his head in his hand.

"That’s okay, I like duck," Finn said, patting Poe’s arm, and Rey nodded eagerly. She gave Poe's hand a squeeze and smiled at him.

"Maybe you could…limit the choices for us?” Rey asked, sensing that Finn’s concerns matched her own—unused to choice, deciding among over fifty different kinds of food, many of which they had never heard of before, was daunting. “What are your five favorite things here?" she asked, planning on tackling the menu that way, first, and moving on if necessary. It wasn't that she didn't think she'd like something—she was actually pretty sure as soon as she started reading the menu she'd want to eat everything on it.

"Well, okay, so,” Poe said, clearly warmed by the ability to help. “I've never been here before, but if I had to pick five things," Poe hummed, scrolling down the list. "Okay, you know how I feel about fried things, so I'd go for the fried quail, and it comes with mashed potato and the seasonal veg. And there's a cheeseburger and fries, I wonder if they'll class that up for the venue. And there's a lasagna, Finn, if you want to try that. For unique I'd go with the gundark jumbalaya, that sounds crazy good. And for healthy, that catch of the day looks nice. Haven't heard of that fish before." Poe sat back and sighed.

Rey nodded. The choice was easy with only five options. "Unique!" She decided, putting down her menu and feeling relieved to do it. "I'll have the gundark."

"Nice!" Poe laughed. "Bold choice. Finn, what about you?"

"Mm, quail. I was going to say the lasagne, but...the quail sounds interesting," Finn answered. "You can try it, if you want," he added to both of them. Despite sharing food almost any time they were together, Rey still wouldn't ask if it wasn't offered, usually.  "What are you getting?" he asked Poe, who was still looking through the menu. He got to the bottom and, "Wait, there's _dessert_ and it looks like a volcano made of _chocolate_." He was definitely saving room for dessert. So definitely.

"Oh we're definitely getting dessert," Poe said, and didn't decide until the waiter returned with water and rolls. "Can I order you anything else from the bar? Or an appetizer to start?"

"Whatever they want to drink, but I'm flying, so I'll switch to coffee after this," Poe said. "We're thinking the duck tacos for an appetizer.”

"I wanted the gundark jumbalaya, please. And another one of these!" Rey held up her empty glass and Poe laughed.

"I think that was the Juri juice Daiquiri. The bartender will know, she was helping them out," Poe said, and nodded at Finn to go first.

The waiter looked at Finn: "I'll have the quail and another...whatever this was, please, if the bartender remembers," Finn asked, offering the waiter a smile.

"And I'll have the...well, Finn and I can’t get the same thing, so, heck, the fry up." Poe grinned. "It's got _everything_ , deep fried," he said, eyes gleaming. "Oh, and a salad, please, no dressing."

It was a little odd to Finn, this whole thing where you didn't have to get up and get your own food or drink. It was a little awkward, maybe, but...but also really, really nice. When the waiter had thanked them and gone to put in their order, Finn reached out and took one of Rey's hands and put his other hand on Poe's leg. "I love you both," he told them, happy and content before they'd even started dinner.

Poe beamed, glad that his charges seemed both relaxed (the alcohol may have helped with that) and pleased at being so spoiled (he had wondered if they would be simply unable to handle allowing someone to drape a napkin in their lap, but both handled it like champs). He laid a hand on Finn's hand and squeezed it. "I love you both, too. You guys had a fun day?"

Rey hiccupped, and blushed when they both laughed at her. "Yes!"

Poe pushed water towards her. "Um, I feel like a pig for not checking already, but…is this your first time drinking alcohol?" he asked worriedly.

Rey shrugged one shoulder and then nodded. "I was too poor on Jakku, and Takodana didn't seem like the time or place," she said. "Though I had a sip of something at the jam session.” She pulled a face. “So this is the first time I’ve enjoyed alcohol, I guess! Never been on a date, either, or to a zoo! Or to a restaurant. It's a day of firsts." She laughed and drank some more water.

"I really liked the zoo. Especially the snake! He was friendly," Finn said.

"I liked the flying one. She was so pretty," Rey said wistfully. It was too bad she would have flown away and they couldn't hold her. "And Poe liked the toad!" she added, snorting with laughter.

Poe beamed proudly as Rey listed her firsts, and grinned sidelong at Finn. "I'm glad. I like that place, too. And I never got to hold the toad before! I'm gonna take you two to every zoo in the galaxy and see what other perks your cute mugs get me!" He patted Finn's cheek but Rey ducked out of the way with a playful glare. "I need to take you two to the one on Coruscant—preferably before the F-O decides to try to blow it up—my parents took me once Coruscant was safe again, after the Battle of Endor. I was only like, three or four, so I barely remember."

"Wait what?" Finn asked, "You were born _before_ Endor?" Some of Poe's occasional 'I'm old' comments were making a little more sense, actually. He glanced over at Rey and added, "Wait, when we're _you_ born?" He didn't love being the youngest, but surely Rey was older than he was. She had everything totally together.

"I'm almost twenty!" Rey answered. "Aren't you and I the same age?" She asked, poking Finn in the chest.

"No! I'm twenty-three. Older than you!" he said, laughing.

Poe groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Poe, calm down, you're not _that_ old. You're—what?” He did quick math in his head, but because of the drink, he did it wrong. “Thirty?" he asked, reaching over and patting Poe's shoulder.

“Thirty-two.”

"Oh.” Finn felt a little embarrassed, though he didn’t know why, and tried to turn it into a joke: “We still love you, even if you're old."

"Wow, you're _thirty-two_?" Rey said, sounding shocked, and Poe wasn't sure whether he should be offended or flattered by her surprise.

Poe groaned again. "I'm not _old_!" he said into his hands, and laughed as he looked up to realize the waiter was hovering with their appetizers. "Sorry," he said, drawing back to let the man place them in the center of the table.

“I guess I should be grateful you’re _legal_ ,” Poe muttered once the waiter had gone. 

“I’m _what_?”

"Nothing. I'm going to just eat my feelings, don’t mind me," he told them sadly, taking a bite of one of the mini tacos and moaning. " _Ohh_. Oh no, this is, these are terrible, don't—you won't like these," he said, pulling the plate closer to him.

"You're not old, I was kidding," Finn said, laughing, and leaned in to nuzzle Poe's neck. This close to him, he could smell the taco when Poe ate it, and it smelled incredible. "Well, worth a try, right?" he asked, grabbing his own taco and taking a bite. "Ohhhh, he's right, they're awful, but it's okay, we'll save you from having to deal with them," he told Rey, who rolled her eyes at him and reached for a taco of her own.

"You're right, I definitely needed saving from that," she said, completely deadpan, and then grinned brightly.

There was some sort of sweet sauce that was practically orgasmic, and there was a berry of some kind that fell out of Finn's taco and landed on his shirt. Without missing a beat, Poe snatched it up and pressed it to Finn's lips, smiling as his lips kissed his fingertips. Not wanting Rey to feel left out, he split the remaining tiny taco into thirds, offering a bite to Rey and carefully feeding it to her. Poe thought, not for the first time, that even if he was— _hells_ —thirteen years Rey's senior and eight years older than Finn—perhaps _especially_ so—he was a lucky man.

The rest of dinner passed splendidly. Poe made them switch to wine as they tried to order a third round of cocktails, and they all tasted each others' dishes and Poe asked for half of their meals to be boxed up so that they would still have room for dessert, knowing that Rey and Finn would rather be in pain than let food go to waste. "Flourless chocolate cake," he reminded them. "And lava cake. We have a long flight back, and we might get hungry mid-flight, and could eat our leftovers then." Though already he couldn't imagine ever eating again.

The desserts were every bit as delicious as everything else, but they managed to finish both of them, and sat for a bit afterwards before Poe paid and they walked back to the ship, Finn and Rey weaving a little bit but mostly staying close to Poe's side.

When they made it back to the transport, Finn sighed happily and went to the copilot's chair, sprawling happily with one leg over the arm. Rey, equally inebriated, pushed at his legs until he moved over and made room for her, and then curled up against his side.

"You two are precious," Poe commented, explaining to BB-8's worried trills that they had just had a bit too much fun but would be okay.

“Stop calling us ‘precious,’” Rey protested. “It makes you sound old.”

“Even if we _are_ precious,” Finn said with a grin and a hiccup.

Poe snorted, but managed takeoff and atmo in spite of their giggling and rowdiness, and when they settled again he gave them each a bottle of water. "Drink this before we get home, or I won't let you into my room," he told them sternly, kissing Finn's brow and brushing some loose hair behind Rey's ear.

Rey pouted. "Poe you can't _do_ that! Where will we sleep?" she said, louder than he had ever heard her speak, like her ears were drunker than the rest of her, and he laughed, putting his hands on his hips:

"I can and I will! It's my room! Drink the water, or you'll hate me even more in the morning," he encouraged, taking the caps from both bottles and throwing them into a corner.

"Nnnooo, it'll spill," Rey complained, gulping at her water which ran all down her front. Poe thought that the desert-child had to be _really_ drunk to be wasting that much water.

"You're a disaster..." Finn said as he looked over at Rey, "You're supposed to drink it, not bathe in it..."  She stuck her tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes, very blatantly drinking his own water.  She tried to do so as well and actually managed it, instead of just dumping it on herself.

"You don't have to be rude just because I can't drink when the world is spinning," she informed him, and he started laughing.

"Rey, we're not even _on_ a world!" Finn told her, and she glared at him, finishing the rest of her water and snuggling down next to him again, which seemed kind of contrary to the glaring sentiment. Finn shot Poe a confused look, wondering if this made no sense because he was drunk or just because Rey sometimes made less sense than most people.

Poe grinned and shook his head, taking the now empty bottle and fetching a blanket from the back. He wasn't sure how they were both occupying the same small bucket seat, but it was really cute, and he draped a blanket over them. "It is late. If you want to sleep, I'll wake you when we're almost home." He reached across the space between them and took Finn's hand. "I'm an awful boyfriend. I shouldn't have let her drink that much," he said with a sheepish grin.

"Nnnooo, feel _grrrreat_ ," Rey protested. "Good boyfriends," she said, nuzzling against Finn's chest and closing her eyes.

"Ha. Tell me that tomorrow," Poe said with a slight grimace.

Finn mumbled as Rey shifted some more and finally settled comfortably, and then curled a little so he could rest his chin on her head, holding the blanket around them both.  He watched Poe pilot the ship for awhile, but eventually it became too tiring and he dropped off to sleep.

Poe watched them fondly, keeping a quiet (and possibly creepy) vigil over the two darlings. He only felt his age on days when he woke up and realized he was over thirty and hadn't found anyone he loved more than his job, his ship, his droid, General Organa, and the Resistance. Now maybe he had found _two_ someones he loved at least as much, and they were worth the wait ( _Could you imagine dating them when you had your first girlfriend? Finn would have been seven! Rey would have been an infant!_ ).

Herding them into their room was a challenge, as he had to carry Rey and let Finn lean on him, and by the time he got back to their room his ankle was actually really starting to hurt. But he helped them get ready for bed ( _not_ how he imagined first seeing Rey's breasts, but there you go) and brush their teeth before tucking them in, propped up on their sides, and a trash can nearby just in case. Seeing them sleeping soundly, Rey spooning Finn, he stood back and grinned. "Bee, can you put on some music, please? Like last night?" He was too tired to do more than a basic evening routine, and tumbled into bed to pull Finn against his chest and give in to sleep for a precious few hours.


	8. Chapter 8

Finn woke up with a pained growl and immediately dragged at the pillow under his head.  Unfortunately, it was also under Rey's head, and she awoke as well.  "Wha—? Finn?  What're you doing?" she asked, from really close to his ear, and he grimaced.

"So _loud_..." he whispered, "Why are you so loud?"

"I'm not loud. This is my normal speaking voice, Finn. Why do you think I'm loud?"

"Because you _are_ please talk quieter my head is going to explode," Finn responded.

Poe had awoken early, already guilty (and his foot throbbing), to fetch breakfast and hangover cures, since he hadn't been quite as responsible as he should have last night, and already heard sounds of distress coming from their room as he returned with his tray laden with food. "Hey guys," he said, his voice low and calm. "How's everyone feeling?" He set the tray down gently and sat on the bed to brush his fingers over both of their heads. "Anyone hungover?"

"What's hungover?" Rey said, sitting up, looking surprisingly normal. "Does it make you tired? I'm a little tired. Also I think something died in my mouth." She held out her hand, and Poe gave her a glass of juice and a bottle of water.

"Hey, Finn, you with me, darling?" Poe said, rubbing his arm.

"No. I am _dying_ ," Finn said dramatically, grabbing Poe's hand and dragging him closer to block some of the ambient light in the room. "I'm dying and Rey is _fine_ and she was more drunk than I was and it's not _fair_ ," he added, and a sympathetic hand (it was definitely Rey) patted his leg.

"Oh darling, shh," Poe said, brushing lips against his brow, pressing lightly into his closed eyelids. "You're not dying, I promise. BB-8, can you reduce the lights to 25%? Thanks, bud." They were already at 50%, and he blinked as his eyes refocused. "It's okay, you can keep your eyes shut. If I help you sit up, can you drink some juice for me, love?" he said, easing a hand under Finn's head. He was really trying not to laugh, especially looking up at Rey, who looked as bright and alert as ever. "I guess twenty-three is the cutoff, huh? Sorry you missed your window, Finn," he told him, easing him into a sitting position, though one leaning heavily against his chest. Rey giggled. "Apparently, if you're nineteen you can recover from a raging bender—come to think of it, twenty-four or so was the last time I remember not feeling it the next day. Sorry, sweetheart."

Finn opened his eyes to glare at Rey. "I don't like you right now," he informed her, and she handed him the juice Poe had mentioned. "I really think I'm fine, actually," he said, but then the smell of it hit him, and he swallowed reflexively. "This is awful why do people do this I'm never doing it again."

"Don't say that," Poe said, kissing his brow. "Here, try the juice. I know it feels like you'll be sick, but you probably won't be, and eating will help you feel better. If you are sick, I've got a bucket right here, bud. And that'll help you feel better, too, if it does happen." He chuckled. "Sorry." It was just that Finn was so _cute_ when he was pathetic.

Finn grumbled, but he drank a few swallows of juice. When that didn't make him sick, he drank a few more sips, and eventually managed to finish the whole thing. In the meantime, Rey was moving around the room, picking things up and setting them down, and it was making him dizzy.  "What are you _doing_?" he asked her, and she came back over, carrying a plate with food—and some fresh clothes.

"Sorry you're old," she said, and ducked as Finn grabbed a grape from the plate and threw it at her.

"Hey, hey, no throwing food," Poe scolded, hugging Finn closer, scratching his arms very lightly. "Think you could eat an egg sandwich for me? Promise it'll make you feel better if you can get it down."

Rey picked out what looked like an egg sandwich and gave it to Poe, who took a demonstrative bite before holding it up to Finn to try.

The juice seemed to be helping, so Finn shrugged and tried the egg sandwich, too.  Rey had brought over two others, and the three of them sat and ate quietly (mercifully so) for awhile before Finn sighed. "Hangovers are the worst," he grumbled, but at least he felt a little more alert, now. And he was cuddled against Poe's chest, so it wasn't _all_ bad.

"Yeah, if you guys want to just stay in bed you should. I've got my other rotation of latrines to clean in a bit—oh, sorry, Finn, shouldn't have mentioned _toilets_ ," he teased, laughing a bit. "Ah, I'm a terrible boyfriend.” He sighed proudly. “ _Anyway_ , I'll be back in a few hours, so you guys can go back to sleep and then we could watch a holovid when I'm back?"

"Yes, definitely sleep," Finn said, already snuggling back down toward the pillows without actually moving off of Poe's lap.

"Sounds boring," Rey said, but when Finn glared at her, she smiled fondly and went to sit next to him with a holopad.

"Sorry I said I didn't like you," he told her with very earnest honesty, and she ran her fingers over his short hair.

"It's alright, I knew you were lying," she said, and looked over at Poe. "We'll be here when you get back, promise."

"I don't have to go _right_ away," Poe said, because Finn's head was pillowed on his leg and he was holding his arms out for Poe to scratch them. It was so cute Poe was actually concerned he might die. But after a few minutes of this and quietly conversing with Rey over what she should read, Poe knew he should get going.

He kissed them both, and went to his work whistling so obnoxiously that even Coni, whose duty he was taking, gave an impressed sort of snort when she saw him scrubbing. "You see: I'm not just a pretty face," he told her with a wink, and once everything was spotless he put his cleaning supplies away.

He waited until he was in his own corridor before he let his limp catch up with him, and he gagged and shuddered, glad he never had to do that again. He pushed straight in to the ‘fresher, barely saying hello, moaning about the ghosts of toilets still haunting him until the hot water banished them.

Finn, of course, awoke once he heard the refresher, and woke Rey from her catnap when he rolled out of bed to join Poe. She shook her head fondly at him and went back to reading, and she was still reading when both of them came out of the washroom awhile later, looking much happier.

"Have fun?" she asked them, grinning a little wickedly, and Finn blushed.

"Hey, _he_ feels better," Poe said, grinning smugly. "Don't you, sweetheart?" Nothing like a good (if gentle) tumble in the refresher to cure a hangover (and _wow_ it felt good to fuck Finn standing up). He was still a little blissed out, himself.

But Finn squawked and glared at Poe, trying to silence him in front of her.

Rey sighed and rolled her eyes at the embarrassed look on Finn's face, and got up from the bed to hug both of them. "Okay, look. Finn, you have to stop worrying that if either of you mentions sex around me my head will explode. Just because I don't...need it? Want it?—" here she paused, unsure how to phrase this,  "—just because I don't desire to have it with people doesn't mean it freaks me out."

Finn was still blushing: she was actually correct and he had been worried that someday they'd go too far and she'd leave because they were bothering her with their intimacy. 

As if reading his mind, again, Rey took his hand. "Look at me, Finn. It doesn't bother me. You two could have sex in this room with me in it and I would probably sit at the holochess table and read something." _Is that weird?_ she wondered. _It’s probably weird_. "Or I'll excuse myself if that's less weird. But you don't have to—to _hide_ it from me." She didn't want them to, either, didn't want them to feel like they had to hide that part of their relationship from her. “Especially when you two are so bad at hiding anything from me,” she laughed.

Poe leaned his head back a bit warily. He had been under the impression that she thought it was gross, or something, but he had apparently misread that. It was probably, he concluded, on a spectrum, like most things. If Rey said she didn’t mind, they should respect that. "That—that wouldn't be weird, for me," Poe said. He'd frankly done weirder. He chewed his lip and sat down heavily, not prepared for this conversation but glad they were having it. "Would you—do you mind if I ask—would you _want_ to watch?" Maybe intimacy was her issue, and she'd get her rocks off just by watching them? Was that even a desire? "I mean—I just, I'm sorry if it makes you feel unwelcome," he said. "You're _not_ unwelcome." Did she want to be invited to join them? he wondered, picking at his cuticles in frustration.

"Probably not? It's—how do I explain this? It doesn't _do_ anything for me, not like it does for most other people, I guess," she said.

Finn looked a little confused still, so she raised her eyebrows at him, hoping he'd ask his question. "But what about when you were giving us a hard time for making noise in the bathroom?" he asked, and she laughed, because he looked so concerned:

"Oh, Finn. Have you ever heard yourselves? It's _ridiculous_. But it doesn't bother me, except in the way loud noises when you're trying to sleep might bother anyone." He looked a little relieved at that, so she glanced back at Poe, who was still fidgeting. "I don't feel unwelcome. It's not like you're doing it to drive me off—you were trying to _avoid_ doing that, and I appreciate the thought. But I'm fine. I certainly don't want to get in the way of you doing something you enjoy. It's fine, and I'll let you know if it ever _does_ start bothering me, and we'll talk about it. Okay?"

Poe and Finn nodded together. Poe still felt a bit guilty, and decided to relieve it by sitting close to Rey and slinging an arm around her so she could cuddle up to his chest. "You still like kisses, right? I haven't misread that?" he asked, and when she narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to yell at him he quickly kissed her nose. "Joking. Love you."

Rey smiled, looking a bit relieved. "Love you, too. Both of you."

Poe stuffed a pillow between their hips and beckoned Finn into the space between their legs. "Come here, Finn, wedge yourself in here so you can lie down." Then, when Finn rested his arm in Poe's lap, he could run his fingernails lightly over his forearm, and Rey could do the same to his other arm, giggling when it was clear that Finn was drifting off before BB-8 could even get the holovid running.

"Are we sure they didn't do some sort of strange stormtrooper conditioning to make him shut down completely when his arms are scratched?" Rey asked in amazement as Finn snored softly between them. He'd started snoring ten minutes into the holovid, the arm-scratching working its magic and sending him off to blissful sleep. "I don't know anything that works that way for me," she said a little jealously. It was endearing, and also really sweet that he'd not-so-subtly ask them for arm scratches.

"Well, we haven't tried," Poe said, shifting his arm to curl around her head, running his fingers through her hair, alternating scrubbing her scalp with his fingertips and just petting her hair. "Anything?" he asked after a few minutes.

She hummed. "Not sleepy, no, but you can keep doing it," she said, and then lifted her head to cut her eyes at him. "I think I see what you mean about the hair thing," she said with a giggle, and Poe laughed, making both his companions bounce. Finn shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake.

“Hey, if he’s asleep, I wanted to show you this vid,” Poe said suddenly, asking BB-8 to switch to a Rebellion-era starships documentary. It was one of his favorites, and he and Rey watched it with rapt attention, whispering and giggling quietly together about the specs and tech of T-65 X-Wings and—this part was for Rey—it even had a short spot on the famous _Millenium Falcon_.

As they watched a segment on star destroyer engines, which Rey whispered over as she told Poe about all her time scavenging inside of one, she slid down to rest her head in Poe’s lap, and he released her hair from its knots to try a few braids. He managed to get one classic Princess Leia bun on the side of her head that made him laugh as she scrambled to the mirror to get a look at it. Then she sat up and made him braid it properly before she went to bed, a task he set to gladly (he had enough little cousins growing up, and it had tended to impress girlfriends if he could manage a half-decent plait or two) until their documentary was finished.

It was not lost on either Poe or Rey that tonight—even as they chatted for another hour in the dark about how to increase the speed and sensitivity of an A-Wing, what kind of additional controls could be given to an astromech to allow the pilot to focus on combat maneuvers (about which BB-8 put in their own thoughts), and on the probability of cloaking technology that the documentary speculated on at the end, Finn slept soundly—as though the First Order couldn’t touch him anymore.


	9. Chapter 9

When Poe finished his patrol the next day, he was surprised to find Rey waiting for him on the tarmac. She beamed and waved, and Poe slid down his ladder to rush into her arms. "Hey, sweetheart," he said, and kissed her cheek. "How's your day going? I missed you this morning. What have you been up to?"

Rey beamed and took his hand. "A bit of training with Master Skywalker, and tinkering with the _Falcon_ with Chewie. I even _impressed_ Chewie using some of the facts from that documentary we watched last night! Finn's in a meeting with the General, but he should be out soon. Do you have the rest of the day off?"

Poe grinned. "I certainly could. What's up?"

"Finn said you two have a surprise for me!" Her grin was broad and bright.

"We do?" Poe wondered, laughing and looking over his shoulder to make sure BB-8 was following as Rey led him to the briefing room, where Finn was just coming out.

Finn was accosted as soon as he stepped from the room, pausing in the doorway and nearly causing the General to trample him. She cleared her throat and he scrambled out of the way, catching a slight smile as she saw Poe and Rey waiting for him.

"Nice timing," Finn laughed as he threw his arms around Poe's neck and gave him a kiss, maybe dipping him a little just to be silly. He turned and did the same to Rey, because it made her laugh.

"You just saw me earlier!" she cackled as he sat her back on her feet. "And you said you two had a surprise for me!" she added.

"Hmmmm, did I say that?" Finn asked her innocently, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, okay. Don't glare at me! Come on," he said, and grabbed one of Rey's hands and one of Poe's to lead them off toward the garden.

Poe made a startled squeak he tried to cover up with a cough as Finn surprised him with a dip, and he definitely caught Leia rolling her eyes and trying not to smile as her aides led her off in another direction to do something important. Poe wanted to follow her, but Finn had taken his hand, and was leading them along. "Heck, this is a surprise for me, too, I don't—" But it soon became apparent that Finn was leading them outside towards the gardens, and it didn't take Poe too long to catch on. "Ohh _that_ surprise!" he exclaimed, and Rey laughed.

"Wait, where are we going? We've never been this way before, have we?" Rey wondered, swinging Finn's hand excitedly. She was wearing a new sweater from their shopping trip, and it had one stitch of purple on the collar and it made her eyes stand out. Finn was wearing the jacket he wore every day, but a new shirt underneath, and, boy, were they handsome together.

When Poe tripped over his own feet he had to explain that he was just very lucky to have two such beautiful people in his life.

They soon arrived at the gardens, which were quiet. Even Dr. Tiak wasn't there.

"Oh!" Rey exclaimed. "You mean we have a—a—" she didn't even have a word for this kind of space. There were plants in pots in neat rows, and the walls were made of glass.

"Garden? Greenhouse?" Poe supplied.

"If that means a place to keep plants inside..." With a small gasp she darted to the philodendron. "Oh! I was wondering where it had got to!" she cried, crouching down next to the monster plant and petting its leaves.

Poe laughed, that out of all the greenery, she had recognized that specific plant from the far end of the greenhouse.

"I caught Poe trying to move it himself," Finn told her. He went to crouch next to her and nodded at the other plants before picking a sprig of lavender and holding it up to her. "We thought you could use somewhere quiet to meditate when you're here, and when we remembered how much you like green things..." He trailed off with a smile and was surprised when Rey twisted to give him one of those crushing hugs of hers. “So…surprise!”

"You planted these? For me?" she asked in a little bit of disbelief, looking between the two of them and the small circle of different plants as she held the lavender to her nose and smelled it. "This one smells wonderful!" she exclaimed before sniffing at it again.

Poe grinned and leaned back on his heels, mostly to stretch his back. "Yeah. We thought you could sit on the stone in the middle and meditate, or—something," he said with a chuckle. "We had to guess what your favorite colors are.” He nudged Finn. “Though after our shopping trip I'm still sure the girl's favorite colors are gray and sand..."

Rey got the distinct impression Poe was teasing her, and she threw some dirt at his shoe. "Hey!" she said. "I like lots of colors. Like..." she glanced around her for inspiration, eyes lighting on his flight suit, the most colorful thing in sight.

"If you say 'orange'…" Poe threatened, and laughed when she clicked her mouth shut. "Oh, hells, you two really know what to say to a guy and his droid," he beamed, and a blush colored his cheeks as he unzipped his orange flight suit to tie around his waist.

“She likes green,” Finn defended, offering her a hand to guide her into the circle.

Rey blushed and stepped gingerly onto the stone in the middle, but didn't sit, instead crouching and turning in a slow spin to inspect all the plants in turn. "I like them all! You're right, Finn, this one smells the best. I want one in our room!" She pointed at the lavender. "And it's a pretty color!" Her smile was huge.

"Maybe we could grow one where the philodendron used to be, since it's out here now," Finn suggested. He nodded to one of the plants with flowers that looked like goldfish. "Did you see that one?" he asked, and Rey leaned forward to look closely.

"They're so small!" she laughed, gently bending a few closer so she could get a better look.

"Oh yeah, that's the goldfish plant. It's—looks like a goldfish? Not that I'm ever getting either of you near a pond again, I know," Poe cackled, and finally gave up on not getting dirt on his flightsuit and crouched down to be eye-to-eye with Finn and Rey. "I think the lavender needs sun, but we can take cuttings and dry them. My mom would always—and my dad does this, too—we keep dried sprigs of it around the house, to keep it smelling nice and fresh."

Rey nodded, now moving on to petting the leaves of the other plants. "I can't believe you did all this for me," she marveled, and when she looked up, her eyes were slightly wet. “Thank you.”

"Aw, sweetheart," Poe said, stepping over the plants to pull her into a hug. "Look, I mean, what else do you get a girl who’s already a Jedi, hates dresses and jewelry, and has two boyfriends? I mean, honestly,” he told her, trying to make light of the gift, and he did get a laugh out of her at that. “Anyway, we _do_ get bored of each other and start missing you _eventually_ , you know, right?" he teased softly, just enough to let her know how serious he was.

"Sometimes it takes a whole hour," Finn added. He laughed at the affronted look that Poe gave him and reached a hand to both of them so he could draw them to him without harming the plants.

"It's perfect,” Rey concluded, since they apparently couldn’t handle gratitude. “Master Luke might even be jealous," Rey said. She bent down and picked two sprigs of lavender, tucking once each behind Poe's and Finn's ears. "Though I'm not sure any plant, no matter how fragrant, can quite combat the dirty clothes you two leave everywhere," she added with a nod to the sprigs.

Poe barked out a laugh, but squeezed them both as tight as he could. "Sorry," he said, blushing. "Anyway, so, it's here, for you, whenever you want. And we could add more plants, too, sometime. All together. You know, a gardening date, maybe, or something." Poe opened his mouth to keep going, but Rey kissed the corner of his mouth.

"It's _already_  perfect. Thank you, Poe. And thank you, Finn," she said, kissing his cheek next. "I really love it. And I really love both of you."

**Author's Note:**

> Please stay tuned for the next installment, and let us know how you're liking the Series!


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